rudiment

Meanings

Noun

• A fundamental principle or skill, especially in a field of learning.
• A form that lacks full or complex development.
• A body part that no longer has a function
• In percussion, one of a selection of basic drum patterns learned as an exercise.

Verb

• To ground; to settle in first principles.

Related

Broader meaning words

• vestigiality

Origin

• From Old French, from Latin rudimentum ("a first attempt, a beginning"), plural rudimenta, from rudis; see rude.