# element

Pronunciation: US say "EL-uh-muhnt" /ˈɛləmənt/; UK say "EL-i-muhnt" /ˈɛlɪmənt/

## Noun

1. A part or feature of something larger, especially one of its basic or essential parts.
   - Simple: One part of something, especially an important or basic part.
   - _Every element of the ceremony was planned down to the minute._
   - _Critics praised individual elements of the film while faulting it as a whole._
2. A factor or condition that contributes to a particular result or outcome.
   - Simple: One of the things that helps cause a result or makes a situation what it is.
   - _Weather proved a deciding element in the outcome of the battle._
   - _Timing remains the most important element in any successful negotiation._
3. Any of the basic chemical substances, such as oxygen, iron, or carbon, made of atoms with the same number of protons, that cannot be broken down into simpler substances by chemical means.
   - Simple: One of the basic substances, like gold or oxygen, that cannot be split into simpler substances.
   - _Pure copper is an element, while bronze is a blend of several elements._
   - _Helium, an element first detected in sunlight, is now used to fill balloons and cool magnets._
4. The forces of the weather, especially wind, rain, and other harsh atmospheric conditions.
   - Simple: Bad weather, like strong wind, rain, or snow, especially when you are outside in it.
   - _Centuries of exposure to the elements wore the statue's face smooth._
   - _Sailors learn to respect the elements long before they learn to fight them._
5. A section of people within a larger group, marked out by some characteristic they share.
   - Simple: A group of people inside a larger group who share something in common.
   - _Police blamed the vandalism on a criminal element within the protest._
   - _The party's progressive element pushed for bolder reforms at the convention._
6. A small but noticeable amount of a quality; a trace or hint.
   - Simple: A small amount of a feeling or quality that you can notice.
   - _An element of doubt crept into the jury's deliberations._
   - _The ceremony retained an element of mystery despite all the cameras._
9. A place, situation, or state of being to which a person or thing is naturally suited.
   - Simple: The place or situation where someone feels most comfortable and does best.
   - _Surrounded by old maps and rare books, the historian was in his element._
   - _A city lawyer dropped onto a cattle ranch, he was completely out of his element._
7. One of the four basic constituents of matter (water, earth, fire, and air) in the theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists.
   - Simple: One of the four basic things (water, earth, fire, and air) that people long ago believed made up everything.
   - _Greek physicians linked each element to one of the body's four humors._
   - _Alchemists sought to balance the elements within a substance before attempting any transmutation._
8. Any one of the distinct objects that together make up a set.
   - Simple: One of the objects that belong to a set in math.
   - _Seven is an element of the set of prime numbers._
   - _The empty set contains no elements at all._
10. The basic principles or rudiments of a field of knowledge; the fundamentals a learner masters first.
   - Simple: The most basic ideas or skills of a subject, which you learn first.
   - _The course covers the elements of statistics before moving on to advanced modeling._
   - _He picked up the elements of carpentry from his grandfather one summer._
11. A component in electrical equipment, often a coil of wire, whose high resistance causes it to give off heat when current passes through it.
   - Simple: The part inside a machine that gets hot when electricity runs through it.
   - _The oven wouldn't heat because its bottom element had burned out._
   - _Space heaters begin to glow once their elements reach full temperature._
12. Raw material; any fundamental substance that serves as the starting point for making something.
   - Simple: A simple, basic material that something is made from.
   - _The potter's basic element is clay, which she digs from the riverbank behind her studio._
   - _Wood and stone were the only elements the early settlers had for building their homes._
13. In a markup language, one of the conceptual units of a document, typically marked off in the text by tags.
   - Simple: A building block of a web page or similar document, written in code with tags.
   - _Each HTML element begins with an opening tag and usually ends with a closing tag._
   - _The developer nested a list element inside the navigation section._
14. A required component of a legal claim or criminal offense, each of which must be proved for the claim or charge to succeed.
   - Simple: One of the parts of a legal case that a lawyer must prove to win.
   - _Intent is an element of most theft offenses._
   - _The prosecution failed to prove one element of the charge, and the case collapsed._
15. One of the entries of a matrix, identified by its row and column position.
   - Simple: One of the numbers in a grid of rows and columns used in math.
   - _The matrix had a zero element in its second row._
   - _Multiplying two matrices means combining elements from rows and columns._
16. An infinitesimally small interval or portion of a quantity; a differential, written in forms such as dx.
   - Simple: A very tiny piece of an amount, like a bit of distance or area, used in math.
   - _Integration sums each element of area under the curve._
   - _The physicist wrote the charge on a tiny element of the wire as dq._
17. Any one of the small interlocking teeth that run along the two sides of a zipper.
   - Simple: One of the small teeth on a zipper.
   - _The repair shop replaced a damaged element near the bottom of the zipper._
   - _Metal elements on heavy-duty zippers outlast molded plastic ones._
18. The bread and wine consecrated and received at the celebration of Holy Communion.
   - Simple: The bread and wine used in the Christian service called Holy Communion.
   - _The deacon carried the elements to the altar for the communion service._
   - _Some churches teach that each element truly changes when it is consecrated._
19. Any one of the parameters needed to uniquely specify a particular orbit.
   - Simple: One of the numbers that tells the exact path of an object in space.
   - _Eccentricity is the element that describes how elongated an orbit is._
   - _Mission planners updated the satellite's elements after the engine burn._

## Noun

20. The sky, regarded as the region above the earth. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The sky.
21. Any of the concentric heavenly spheres believed, in premodern cosmology, to carry the sun, moon, planets, and stars around the Earth. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: One of the invisible spinning balls that people long ago believed carried the sun, moon, and stars.

## Verb

22. To compound or put together something out of its basic elements. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To make something by mixing simple parts together.
23. To constitute something; to be the elements out of which something is made. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To be the parts that make up something.

## Origin

The word comes from Latin "elementum," meaning "a first principle, element, or rudiment," which passed through Old French "element" and Middle English "element." The verb comes from the Middle English noun.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/element (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).