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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