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rudiment |
3 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Rudiment \Ru"di*ment\, n. [L. rudimentum fr rudis unwrought ignorant, rude: cf F. rudiment. See {Rude}.] 1. That which is unformed or undeveloped; the principle which lies at the bottom of any development; an unfinished beginning. but I will bring thee where thou soon shalt quit Those rudiments, and see before thine eyes The monarchies of the earth. --Milton. the single leaf is the rudiment of beauty in landscape. --I. Taylor. 2. Hence an element or first principle of any art or science; a beginning of any knowledge; a first step. This boy is forest-born, And hath been tutored in the rudiments of many desperate studies. --Shak. There he shall first lay down the rudiments Of his great warfare. --Milton. 3. (Biol.) An imperfect organ or part or one which is never developed. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Rudiment \Ru"di*ment\, v. t. To furnish with first principles or rules to insrtuct in the rudiments. --Gayton. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: rudiment n 1: the elementary stages of any subject (usually plural); "he mastered the rudiments of geometry" [syn: {first principle}] 2: the remains of a body part that was functional at an earlier stage of life; "Meckel's diverticulum is the rudiment of the embryonic yolk sac"
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