Search the Dictionary

The fundamental, organic law or principles of government of men, embodied in written documents, or implied in the institutions and usages of the country or society; also, a written instrument embodying such organic law, and laying down fundamental rules and principles for the conduct of affairs. Our constitution had be…

In accordance with the constitution or fundamental law; legally; as, he was not constitutionally appointed. Nothing would indue them to acknowledge that [such] an assembly . . . was constitutionally a Parliament. Macaulay.

, the stone which forms the corner of the foundation of an edifice; hence, that which is fundamental importance or indispensable. "A prince who regarded uniformity of faith as the corner stone of his government." Prescott. -- Corner tooth, one of the four teeth which come in a horse's mouth at the age of four years an…

Pyx. -- Corpus delicti (d Etym: [L., the body of the crime] (Law), the substantial and fundamental fact of the comission of a crime; the proofs essential to establish a crime. -- Corpus luteum (l; pl. Corpora lutea (-. Etym: [NL., luteous body] (Anat.), the reddish yellow mass which fills a ruptured Grafian follicle…

Obtained by derivation; derived; not radical, original, or fundamental; originating, deduced, or formed from something else; secondary; as, a derivative conveyance; a derivative word. Derivative circulation, a modification of the circulation found in some parts of the body, in which the arteries empty directly into the…

Fundamental principle; axiom; maxim. [Obs.] Sciences concluding from dignities, and principles known by themselves. Sir T. Browne.

The manifoldness with which the fundamental units of time, length, and mass are involved in determining the units of other physical quantities. Thus, since the unit of velocity varies directly as the unit of length and inversely as the unit of time, the dimensions of velocity are said to be length ÷ time; the dimension…

Crystallizing under two forms fundamentally different, while having the same chemical composition.

ential parts or principles of which anything consists, or upon which the constitution or fundamental powers of anything are based.

distinct keys; one whose intervals, being all minor thirds, do not clearly indicate its fundamental tone or root; the chord of the diminished triad, and the diminished seventh.

Original or fundamental signification. [R.] Given as the etymon or genuine sense of the word. Coleridge.

The fundamental forms of organic life, that are composed of two equal and symmetrical halves. Syd. Soc. Lex.

ere manner that it was when committed. Ex post facto laws are held to be contrary to the fundamental principles of a free government, and the States are prohibited from passing such laws by the Constitution of the United States. Burrill. Kent.

The group comprising a husband and wife and their dependent children, constituting a fundamental unit in the organization of society. The welfare of the family underlies the welfare of society. H. Spencer.

Fundamental principle; basis; plan; -- used only in the singular. Answer directly upon the foot of dry reason. Berkeley.

The principal sound or sounds by which others are produced; the fundamental note or root of the common chord; -- called also generating tone.

An assemblage of species, having so many fundamental points of structure in common, that in the judgment of competent scientists, they may receive a common substantive name. A genus is not necessarily the lowest definable group of species, for it may often be divided into several subgenera. In proportion as its definit…

etc., thrown into the water to collect the fish, Wallon. -- Ground bass or base (Mus.), fundamental base; a fundamental base continually repeated to a varied melody. -- Ground beetle (Zoöl.), one of numerous species of carnivorous beetles of the family Carabidæ, living mostly in burrows or under stones, etc. -- Grou…

That which forms the foundation or support of anything; the basis; the essential or fundamental part; first principle. Dryden.

ard stratum of earth lying beneath the soil; hence, figuratively, the firm, substantial, fundamental part or quality of anything; as, the hard pan of character, of a matter in dispute, etc. See Pan. -- Hard rubber. See under Rubber. -- Hard solder. See under Solder. -- Hard water, water, which contains lime or some…