rudimentary adj

1 being or involving basic facts or principles; "the fundamental laws of the universe"; "a fundamental incompatibility between them"; "these rudimentary truths"; "underlying principles" [syn: fundamental, underlying]

2 being in the earliest stages of development; "rudimentary plans"

3 not fully developed in mature animals; "rudimentary wings" [syn: vestigial]

English

Pronunciation

• /ˌɹuːdɪˈmɛntəɹi/, /%ru:dI"mEnt@ri/

Adjective

rudimentary

1. Basic; minimal; with less than, or only the minimum, necessary.

   His grasp of rudimentary English allowed him at least to do the shopping.

   His rudimentary driving skills meant that he was a danger on the road.

   I have only a rudimentary grasp of chemistry.

Translations

• Chinese: 基本的，起初的；早期的，发展为完全的；退化的，残遗的。 (jīběnde)
• Danish: rudimentær
• Finnish: alkeis-; perus-
• Icelandic: frumstæður , frumstæð , frumstætt ; vanþróaður , vanþróuð , vanþróað
• Korean: 기본적인
• Spanish: rudimentario

Related terms

• rudiment

Lilliputian, Tom Thumb, abecedarian, aboriginal, antenatal, arrested, autochthonous, backward, basal, basic, basilar, beginning, budding, central, coarse, creative, crucial, crude, dumpy, dwarf, dwarfed, dwarfish, elemental, elementary, elfin, embryonic, essential, fetal, first, formative, foundational, fundamental, generative, genetic, germinal, gestatory, immature, imperfect, in embryo, in its infancy, in ovo, in the bud, in the rough, inaugural, inceptive, inchoate, inchoative, incipient, incunabular, infant, infantile, initial, initiative, initiatory, introductory, inventive, meager, midget, nanoid, nascent, natal, original, oversimple, parturient, postnatal, pregnant, prenatal, primal, primary, prime, primeval, primitive, primogenial, primordial, pristine, procreative, protogenic, pygmy, radical, reductionistic, reductive, rough, roughcast, roughhewn, rude, rudimental, runty, scraggy, scrubby, seminal, shriveled, shrunk, shrunken, simplistic, squat, stunted, unblown, uncultivated, uncultured, uncut, underdeveloped, underlying, undersize, undersized, undeveloped, unfashioned, unfinished, unformed, unhewn, unlabored, unlicked, unpolished, unprocessed, unrefined, unshaped, untreated, unworked, unwrought, ur, vestigial, wizened