fundamentals

The word “fundamentals” means the basic principles or skills that everything else is built on. In plain terms, the basic building blocks of a skill or subject, or a company's core financial health.

Here is “fundamentals” used in a sentence: “Before learning advanced moves, master the fundamentals.”

“Fundamentals” is a noun.

“Fundamentals” is an uncommon word in modern English.

“Fundamentals” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: the basic principles or skills that everything else is built on.

Fundamentals and basics both refer to the essential principles or skills that everything else is built on, and the words are often used interchangeably. Fundamentals can sound slightly more formal or technical, especially in fields like finance, science, or sport.

In finance, fundamentals refer to the underlying financial data of a company or economy, such as earnings, debt, and revenue, used to assess its true value. Investors who study fundamentals are analyzing this core data rather than short-term price movements.

Fundamentals is almost always used in the plural because it refers to a collected set of basic principles or pieces of data rather than a single idea. Saying master the fundamentals implies covering the whole essential foundation, not just one part of it.