element
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.
Example
“Letters are the elements of written language.”
Other meanings
Any one of the types of atom distinguished by having a certain number of protons in its nucleus.
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.
Synonyms
- component
- constituent
- factor
- ingredient
Example sentences
Word history
From Latin "elementum" (a first principle, element, rudiment).
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “element” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; example sentences are from Tatoeba, credited to their authors above; related-word lists use Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0, based on Princeton WordNet), published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.