element
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: ĕl'ĭmənt
ipa: /ˈɛlɪmənt/
ipa: /ˈɛləmənt/
Forms: form: elements
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.
Senses: examples: text: Letters are the elements of written language.
text: The simplicity which is so large an element in a noble nature was laughed to scorn.
ref: 1881, Benjamin Jowett, Thucydides:
glosses: 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.
examples: text: Hydrogen is the first element in the periodic table. It is the simplest possible atom composed of one proton in the nucleus which is orbited by a single electron.
ref: 2013, “Elements for Kids — Hydrogen”, in www.duckster.com, archived from the original on 15 Jul 2013:
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: 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.
Any one of the types of atom distinguished by having a certain number of protons in its nucleus.
synonyms: chemical element
hypernyms: substance#Noun
material#Noun
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: 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.
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: elementary substance
chemical element
hypernyms: substance#Noun
material#Noun
glosses: 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.
One of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists: water, earth, fire, and air.
examples: text: Thus ſhall my heart be ſtil combinde with thine,
Untill our bodies turne to Elements:
And both our ſoules aſpire celeſtiall thrones.
ref: c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
glosses: 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.
A basic, simple substance out of which something is made, raw material.
topics: law
glosses: 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.
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.
examples: text: […] the majority of names being compounded of two elements chosen from a stock of special name-words.
ref: 1945, E[lizabeth] G[idley] Withycombe, “Introduction”, in The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page xi:
topics: mathematics
sciences
set-theory
glosses: 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.
One of the objects in a set.
synonyms: member
topics: mathematics
sciences
glosses: 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.
One of the entries of a matrix.
glosses: 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.
Any of the teeth of a zip fastener.
examples: text: an element of the picture
glosses: A small part of the whole.
examples: text: an element of doubt
text: The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities. A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff.
ref: 1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings:
glosses: A small but present amount of a quality, a hint.
glosses: A factor, one of the conditions contributing to a result.
examples: text: Sometimes, solitude is of all things my wish; and the awful silence of the night, the spangled element, and the rising and setting sun, how promotive of contemplation!
ref: 1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter LXIX”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; […], →OCLC:
glosses: The sky.
glosses: Any one of the heavenly spheres believed to carry the celestial bodies in premodern cosmology.
examples: text: exposed to the elements
glosses: Atmospheric forces such as strong winds and rains.
examples: text: to be in one’s element
glosses: A place or state of being that a person or object is best suited to.
topics: Christianity
glosses: The bread and wine taken at Holy Communion.
examples: text: You sometimes find the hooligan element at football matches.
glosses: A group of people within a larger group having a particular common characteristic.
examples: text: Miniature Nuremberg kitchens complete with all the utensils were said to teach children the elements of housewifery.
ref: 1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 198:
glosses: The basic principles of a field of knowledge, basics, fundamentals, rudiments.
examples: text: The element in this electric kettle can heat the water in under a minute.
glosses: A component in electrical equipment, often in the form of a coil, having a high resistance, thereby generating heat when a current is passed through it.
examples: text: The element of area in Cartesian coordinates is dx dy.
topics: mathematics
sciences
glosses: An infinitesimal interval of a quantity, a differential.
topics: astronomy
natural-sciences
glosses: An orbital element; one of the parameters needed to uniquely specify a particular orbit.
examples: text: The div element was introduced into HTML as a solution to the layout problem.
ref: 2011, Richard Wagner, Creating Web Pages All-in-One For Dummies:
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: One of the conceptual objects in a markup language, usually represented in text by tags.
Hyponyms: artificial element
Besselian element
chemical element
data element
element 0
heating element
linking element
superheavy element
synthetic element
Derived terms: 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
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
systematic element name
texel
thermoelement
time element
tipping element
trace element
tracer element
transition element
transposable element
transuranium element
urelement
vessel element
Related terms: elemental
elementary
atom