English Explanatory Dictionary

element

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. One of the simplest or essential parts or principles of which anything consists, or upon which the constitution or fundamental powers of anything are based.
  2. Any one of the types of atom distinguished by having a certain number of protons in its nucleus.
  3. A chemical substance made entirely of one such type of atom; any one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction or by any chemical means and made up of atoms all having the same number of protons.
  4. One of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists: water, earth, fire, and air.
  5. A basic, simple substance out of which something is made, raw material.
  6. A required aspect or component of a cause of action. A deed is regarded as a violation of law only if each element can be proved.
  7. One of the objects in a set.
  8. One of the entries of a matrix.
  9. Any of the teeth of a zip fastener.
  10. A small part of the whole.
  11. A small but present amount of a quality, a hint.
  12. A factor, one of the conditions contributing to a result.
verb
  1. To compound (something) out of elements.
  2. To constitute and be the elements of (something).

Pronunciation

ĕl'ĭmənt /ˈɛlɪmənt/ /ˈɛləmənt/ en-us-element.ogg

Word forms

element elements elementing elemented

Etymology

From Middle English element, from Old French element, from Latin elementum (“a first principle, element, rudiment”) (see further etymology there). The verb is from Middle English elementen, from the noun.

Synonyms

chemical element elementary substance member

Related words

elemental elementary atom transelement

Derived words

alloying element antielement bioelement block level element common element diagonal element driven element elementation element number element of surprise elementoid elementology elementwise element zero empty-element tag endogenous viral element finite element generalized element generic element global element graphoelement heteroelement idele identity element in one's element integral element interelement line element logical mechanical element lumped-element model macroelement main group element major element microelement mobile genetic element multielement nanoelement nonelement oligoelement out of one's element parasitic element peg element photoelement primitive element primordial element pseudoelement radioelement rare earth element rare-earth element regular element representative element resel retroelement sentence element sieve element sieve-tube element single-element stereoelement sub-element superelement

Translations

Albanian: element Arabic: عُنْصُر Armenian: հիմունք Azerbaijani: ünsür Azerbaijani: element Belarusian: элеме́нт Belarusian: элемэ́нт Bengali: ধাতু Breton: elfenn Bulgarian: елеме́нт Burmese: ဓါတ် Burmese: ဒြပ်စင် Catalan: element Chinese Cantonese: 要素 Chinese Mandarin: 要素 Cornish: elven Czech: prvek Czech: element Danish: element Dutch: element Dutch: fractie Esperanto: elemento Estonian: element Finnish: perusosa Finnish: häivähdys Finnish: aavistus Finnish: varjo Finnish: siemen French: élément Galician: elemento Georgian: ელემენტი German: Element Greek: ουσία Greek: στοιχείο Ancient Greek: στοιχεῖον Hebrew: עיקר \ עִקָּר Hebrew: יְסוֹד Hebrew: שְׁבִיב Hindi: तत्त्व Hungarian: elem Hungarian: alkotóelem Hungarian: összetevő Hungarian: alkatrész Hungarian: részlet Hungarian: darab Hungarian: részecske Hungarian: csepp Hungarian: morzsányi Hungarian: szemernyi Irish: dúil Irish: uraiceacht Italian: elemento Japanese: 要素 Japanese: エレメント Kazakh: элемент Khmer: ធាតុ Korean: 요소 Kyrgyz: элемент Lao: ທາດ Latin: elementum Latvian: elements Lithuanian: elementas Macedonian: елеме́нт
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