Link Centre Dictionary

element

ele·ment

UK/ˈɛlɪmənt/ US/ˈɛləmənt/ fairly common

noun

1.

an abstract part of something

  • “jealousy was a component of his character”
  • “two constituents of a musical composition are melody and harmony”
  • “the grammatical elements of a sentence”
  • “a key factor in her success”
  • “humor: an effective ingredient of a speech”
Synonyms
2.

any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter

Synonyms
3.

an artifact that is one of the individual parts of which a composite entity is made up; especially a part that can be separated from or attached to a system

  • “spare components for cars”
  • “a component or constituent element of a system”
Synonyms
4.

one of four substances thought in ancient and medieval cosmology to constitute the physical universe

  • “the alchemists believed that there were four elements”
5.

the most favorable environment for a plant or animal

  • “water is the element of fishes”
6.

the situation in which you are happiest and most effective

  • “in your element”
7.

a straight line that generates a cylinder or cone

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • alloying element
  • block level element
  • common element
  • diagonal element
  • driven element
  • element number
  • element of surprise
  • element zero

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.