fundamental

nouns

any factor that could be considered important to the understanding of a particular business

"fundamentals include a company's growth, revenues, earnings, management, and capital structure"

fundamental

is a type of (narrower)

anything that contributes causally to a result

"a number of factors determined the outcome"

factor

the lowest tone of a harmonic series

first harmonic, fundamental, fundamental frequency

adjectives

serving as an essential component

"a cardinal rule"; "the central cause of the problem"; "an example that was fundamental to the argument"; "computers are fundamental to modern industrial structure"

cardinal, central, fundamental, key, primal

being or involving basic facts or principles

"the fundamental laws of the universe"; "a fundamental incomatibility between them"; "these rudimentary truths"; "underlying principles"

fundamental, rudimentary, underlying

far-reaching and thoroughgoing in effect especially on the nature of something

"the fundamental revolution in human values that has occurred"; "the book underwent fundamental changes"; "committed the fundamental error of confusing spending with extravagance"; "profound social changes"

fundamental, profound