different between beginning vs fundamental

English

Alternative forms

• begynnynge (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• enPR: b?g?'n?ng, IPA^(key): /b????.n??/

Etymology 1

From Middle English biginning, beginninge, beginnunge, equivalent to begin +? -ing.

Noun

beginning (countable and uncountable, plural beginnings)

1. (uncountable) The act of doing that which begins anything; commencement of an action, state, or space of time; entrance into being or upon a course; the first act, effort, or state of a succession of acts or states.
2. That which is begun; a rudiment or element.
3. That which begins or originates something; the source or first cause.

   What was the beginning of the dispute?

4. The initial portion of some extended thing.

   The author describes the main character's youth at the beginning of the story.

   That house is at the beginning of the street.

   • 1975, Frances Keinzley, The Cottage at Chapelyard, page 179,

     "Is anything the matter?" Lady Lindstrom asked anxiously.

     "No," Megan told her. "I'm merely trying to decide where the beginning is."

     "Perhaps at the beginning," the Chief Constable prompted, rather stupidly, Megan thought.

     "Which beginning?" she asked.

Usage notes

"In the beginning" is an idiomatic expression that means "at first, initially"; it does not mean the same as "at the beginning".

The meaning of "at the beginning" is clear from its parts. This expression is used to refer to the time when or place where something starts; it is used to refer to points in time and space and also to fairly long periods of time and fairly large extents of space. ("At the beginning of the story" can be used to refer to both the first few sentences and to the first chapter or chapters. "At the beginning of the trail" can be used to refer to both the first few meters and the first part of a trail, which can be quite substantial, even a fifth or fourth or more.)

The originally rare and traditionally deprecated usage of "in the beginning of" (instead of "at the beginning of") has become more common but is still ignored by most dictionaries and other authorities or labeled as unidiomatic or incorrect. Interestingly, there is only rarely confusion between the parallel expressions "in the end" and "at the end (of)".

Synonyms

• (act of doing that which begins anything): commencing, start, starting
• (that which is begun; rudiment or element): element, embryo, rudiment
• (that which begins or originates something): origin, source, start, commencement
• (initial portion of some extended thing): head, start

Antonyms

• (act of doing that which begins anything): conclusion, end

Derived terms

• a good beginning makes a good ending
• beginning of day
• in the beginning

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English begynnyng, bygynnynge, From Old English *beginnende (attested only as Old English onginnende), from Proto-Germanic *biginnandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *biginnan? (“to begin”), equivalent to begin +? -ing.

Verb

beginning

1. present participle of begin

Adjective

beginning (not comparable)

1. (informal) Of or relating to the first portion of some extended thing.

   in the beginning paragraph of the chapter

   in the beginning section of the course

Translations

Synonyms

• first
• initial

English

Alternative forms

• foundament (when used as a noun)

Etymology

From Late Latin fundament?lis, from Latin fundamentum (“foundation”), from fund? (“to lay the foundation (of something), to found”), from fundus (“bottom”), from Proto-Indo-European *b?ud?m?n.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?f?nd??m?nt?l/
• Hyphenation: fun?da?men?tal

Noun

fundamental (plural fundamentals)

1. (usually in the plural) A leading or primary principle, rule, law, or article, which serves as the groundwork of a system; an essential part

   one of the fundamentals of linear algebra

2. (physics) The lowest frequency of a periodic waveform.
3. (music) The lowest partial of a complex tone.

Translations

Adjective

fundamental (comparative more fundamental, superlative most fundamental)

1. Pertaining to the foundation or basis; serving for the foundation.
2. Essential, as an element, principle, or law; important; original; elementary.

Synonyms

• groundlaying
• See also Thesaurus:bare-bones

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• fundamental in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• fundamental in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Danish

Etymology

From fundament +? -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f?ndam?nta?l/, [f?nd?am?n?t?æ??l]

Adjective

fundamental

1. basic, fundamental

Inflection

Synonyms

• afgørende
• basal
• grundliggende, grundlæggende

Derived terms

• fundamentalisme
• fundamentalist

Galician

Etymology

From Latin fund?ment?lis.

Pronunciation

Adjective

fundamental m or f (plural fundamentais)

1. fundamental

Further reading

• “fundamental” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

German

Etymology

From Latin fund?ment?lis; synchronically analyzable as Fundament +? -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f?ndam?n?ta?l/
• Hyphenation: fun?da?men?tal

Adjective

fundamental (comparative fundamentaler, superlative am fundamentalsten)

1. fundamental

Declension

Synonyms

• grundlegend

Derived terms

• Fundamentalismus, Fundamentalist

Related terms

• Fundamentalerkenntnis, Fundamentalentscheidung, Fundamentalgesetz, Fundamentalsatz

Further reading

• “fundamental” in Duden online

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin fundamentalis

Adjective

fundamental (masculine and feminine fundamental, neuter fundamentalt, definite singular and plural fundamentale)

1. fundamental, basic

Related terms

• fundament

References

• “fundamental” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “fundamental” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin fundamentalis

Adjective

fundamental (masculine and feminine fundamental, neuter fundamentalt, definite singular and plural fundamentale)

1. fundamental, basic

Related terms

• fundament

References

• “fundamental” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin fund?ment?lis.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /?f?.da.m?.?taw/, /f?.?da.m?.?taw/
• Hyphenation: fun?da?men?tal

Adjective

fundamental m or f (plural fundamentais, comparable)

1. fundamental; essential (pertaining to the basic part or notion of something)

   Synonyms: essencial, básico

Derived terms

• fundamentalismo
• fundamentalista
• fundamentalmente

Further reading

• “fundamental” in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa.
• “fundamental” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Romanian

Etymology

From French fondamental, from Latin fundamentalis

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fun.da.men?tal/

Adjective

fundamental m or n (feminine singular fundamental?, masculine plural fundamentali, feminine and neuter plural fundamentale)

1. fundamental

Declension

Related terms

References

• fundamental in DEX online - Dic?ionare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin fund?ment?lis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fundamen?tal/, [f?n?.d?a.m?n??t?al]
• Hyphenation: fun?da?men?tal

Adjective

fundamental (plural fundamentales)

1. fundamental

Derived terms

• fundamentalismo
• fundamentalista
• fundamentalmente
• interacción fundamental

Related terms

• fundamentar
• fundamento
• fundar

Further reading

• “fundamental” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

Swedish

Adjective

fundamental (not comparable)

1. fundamental

Declension

References

• fundamental in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• fundamental in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)