Wiktionary

element

See also: Element and élément

English

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 element on Wikipedia
 chemical element on Wikipedia
Examples

Etymology

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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.[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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element (plural elements)

  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.
    Letters are the elements of written language.
    2. (chemistry) Any one of the types of atom distinguished by having a certain number of protons in its nucleus.[2]
      Synonym: chemical element
      Hypernyms: substance, material
      Hyponyms: alkali metal, alkaline earth metal, chalcogen, pnictogen, halogen, metal, noble gas, rare earth element, rare earth metal
      • 2013, “Elements for Kids — Hydrogen”, in www.duckster.com‎[3], archived from the original on 15 July 2013:
        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.
    3. (chemistry) 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, material
      Hyponyms: alkali metal, alkaline earth metal, chalcogen, pnictogen, halogen, metal, noble gas, rare earth element, rare earth metal
    5. One of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists: water, earth, fire, and air.
      • 1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 59:
        The she asked the elements to send their spirits to her.
    6. (usually in the plural) A basic, simple substance out of which something is made, raw material.
    7. (law) 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.
    8. (set theory) One of the objects in a set.
      Synonym: member
      • 1945, E[lizabeth] G[idley] Withycombe, “Introduction”, in The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page xi:
        […] the majority of names being compounded of two elements chosen from a stock of special name-words.
    9. (mathematics) One of the entries of a matrix.
    10. Any of the teeth of a zip fastener.
  2. A small part of the whole.
    an element of the picture
  3. A small but present amount of a quality, a hint.
    an element of doubt
    • 1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings:
      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.
  4. A factor, one of the conditions contributing to a result.
  5. (obsolete) The sky.
    • 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; [a]nd sold by John Osborn, […], →OCLC:
      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!
  6. (obsolete) Any one of the heavenly spheres believed to carry the celestial bodies in premodern cosmology.
  8. (in the plural only, with "the") Atmospheric forces such as strong winds and rains.
    exposed to the elements
  10. A place or state of being that a person or object is best suited to.
    to be in one’s element
  11. (Christianity, usually in the plural) The bread and wine taken at Holy Communion.
  13. A group of people within a larger group having a particular common characteristic.
    You sometimes find the hooligan element at football matches.
  14. (in the plural only) The basic principles of a field of knowledge, basics, fundamentals, rudiments.
    • 1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 198:
      Miniature Nuremberg kitchens complete with all the utensils were said to teach children the elements of housewifery.
  15. 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.
    The element in this electric kettle can heat the water in under a minute.
    • 1960 February, “High-Voltage Electric Locomotive for British Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 125:
      These screens incorporate a layer of transparent gold film in the laminations which forms an electric heating element to act as de-icer and de-mister.
  16. (mathematics) An infinitesimal interval of a quantity, a differential.
    The element of area in Cartesian coordinates is dx dy.
  17. (astronomy) An orbital element; one of the parameters needed to uniquely specify a particular orbit.
  19. (computing) One of the conceptual objects in a markup language, usually represented in text by tags.
    • 2011, Richard Wagner, Creating Web Pages All-in-One For Dummies:
      The div element was introduced into HTML as a solution to the layout problem.

Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also

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Verb

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element (third-person singular simple present elements, present participle elementing, simple past and past participle elemented) (transitive, obsolete)

  2. To compound (something) out of elements.
  3. To constitute and be the elements of (something).
    • 1658, Izaak Walton, Life of Donne:
      His very soul was elemented of nothing but sadness.
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References

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  • Lehmann, R.G. (2011). "27-30-22-26 - How many letters needs an alphabet?". In de Voogt, A.; Quack, J.F. The Idea of Writing: Writing Across Borders. Brill. pp. 15–16, note 8.
  1. ^ “element, v.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
  2. ^ International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (2014). "chemical element". Compendium of Chemical Terminology Internet edition.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Catalan

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin elementum.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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element m (plural elements)

  1. element, a component part of a thing
  2. (plural) fundamental principles or simpler notions of a knowledge system
  3. (plural) set of natural forces (the weather, the sea, etc)
  4. (chemistry) element, a simple substance that cannot be broken down into others by chemical methods
  5. (biology) the environment in which a being lives
    (idiomatic) trobar-se algú en el seu element ― to be somebody in the situation that best suits their tastes or abilities (an idiom, literally to be in one's element)
  6. (math) element, an object that belongs to a set
  7. (pejorative) a person, an individual

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Crimean Tatar

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Etymology

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From Latin elementum.

Noun

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element

  1. element.

Declension

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Declension of element
nominative element
genitive elementniñ
dative elementke
accusative elementni
locative elementte
ablative elementten

References

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  • Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002), Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎[5], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

Czech

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Czech Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia cs

Etymology

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Inherited from Old Czech element, from Latin elementum.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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element m inan

  1. 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)
    1. element (one of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists: water, earth, fire, and air)
  2. elementary (basic knowledge or fact)
  3. (literary) element (small part of the whole)
  4. (physics) galvanic cell

Declension

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Declension of element (hard masculine inanimate)
singular plural
nominative element elementy
genitive elementu elementů
dative elementu elementům
accusative element elementy
vocative elemente elementy
locative elementu elementech
instrumental elementem elementy

Further reading

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Danish

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Noun

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element n (singular definite elementet, plural indefinite elementer)

  1. (set theory) element

Declension

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Declension of element
neuter
gender 		singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative element elementet elementer elementerne
genitive elements elementets elementers elementernes

References

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Dutch

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Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

Etymology

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From Middle Dutch element, from Old French element, from Latin elementum (“a first principle, element, rudiment”), of uncertain origin (see further etymology there).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˌeː.ləˈmɛnt/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: ele‧ment
  • Rhymes: -ɛnt

Noun

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element n (plural elementen, diminutive elementje n)

  1. element
  2. (chemistry) element
  3. (set theory) element
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Descendants

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  • → Indonesian: elemen

Anagrams

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Kashubian

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Etymology

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Etymology tree
Latin elementumlbor.
Old Polish element
Polish elementbor.
Kashubian element

    Borrowed from Polish element.

    Pronunciation

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    • IPA(key): /ɛˈlɛ.mɛnt/
    • Rhymes: -ɛmɛnt
    • Syllabification: e‧le‧ment

    Noun

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    element m inan

    1. element (small part of the whole)

    Further reading

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    • Jan Trepczyk (1994), “element”, in Słownik polsko-kaszubski (in Kashubian), volumes 1–2
    • Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011), “element”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎[6]

    Norwegian Bokmål

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    Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
    Wikipedia no

    Etymology

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    From Latin elementum.

    Noun

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    element n (definite singular elementet, indefinite plural element or elementer, definite plural elementa or elementene)

    1. an element

    References

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    Norwegian Nynorsk

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    Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
    Wikipedia nn

    Etymology

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    From Latin elementum.

    Noun

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    element n (definite singular elementet, indefinite plural element, definite plural elementa)

    1. an element

    References

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    Old Czech

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    Alternative forms

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    Etymology

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    Learned borrowing from Latin elementum.[1]

    Pronunciation

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    • IPA(key): (13th CE) /ˈɛlɛmɛnt/
    • IPA(key): (15th CE) /ˈɛlɛmɛnt/

    Noun

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    element m inan

    1. element (one of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists: water, earth, fire, and air)

    Declension

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    Declension of element (hard o-stem)
    singular dual plural
    nominative element elementy elementi, elementové
    genitive elementa, elementu elementú elementóv
    dative elementu elementoma elementóm
    accusative element elementy elementy
    vocative elemente elementy elementi, elementové
    locative elementě, elementu elementú elementiech
    instrumental elementem elementoma elementy
    This table shows the most common forms around the 13th century.

    Descendants

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    References

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    1. ^ Rejzek, Jiří (2015), “element”, in Český etymologický slovník [Czech Etymological Dictionary] (in Czech), 3rd (revised and expanded) edition, Praha: LEDA, →ISBN

    Old Polish

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    Alternative forms

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    Etymology

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    Etymology tree
    Latin elementumlbor.
    Old Polish element

      Learned borrowing from Latin elementum.[1][2][3][4][5] First attested in the middle of the 15th century.

      Pronunciation

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      • IPA(key): (10th–15th CE) /ɛlʲɛ(ː)mɛ(ː)nt/
      • IPA(key): (15th CE) /ɛlʲɛmɛnt/, /ɛlʲement/

      Noun

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      element m animacy unattested

      1. element (one of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists: water, earth, fire, and air)
        • Middle of the 15th century, Rozmyślanie o żywocie Pana Jezusa‎[7], page 5:
          Czthyrzy zyvyoly... albo alymenta szą od czyebye stvorzony (elementa quatuor a te sunt creata), ymysz ma bycz zyvo wschystko stvorzenye. To sa ta czvsch ozm ozm alymenta: ogyen, zyemya, vylkoscz y povyetrze
          [Cztyrzy żywioły... albo alimenta są od Ciebie stworzony (elementa quatuor a Te sunt creata), imiż ma być żywo wszystko stworzenie, to są, toczusz alimenta: ogień, ziemia, wilkość i powietrze]

      Descendants

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      References

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      1. ^ Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000), “element”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
      2. ^ Mirosław Bańko; Lidia Wiśniakowska (2021), “element”, in Wielki słownik wyrazów obcych, →ISBN
      3. ^ Dubisz, Stanisław, editor (2003), “element”, in Uniwersalny słownik języka polskiego [Universal Dictionary of the Polish Language]‎[1] (in Polish), volumes 1–4, Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, →ISBN, →OCLC
      4. ^ Witold Doroszewski, editor (1958–1969), “element”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), Warszawa: PWN
      5. ^ Krystyna Długosz-Kurczabowa (2021), “element”, in Wielki słownik etymologiczno-historyczny języka polskiego, →ISBN
      • B. Sieradzka-Baziur, Ewa Deptuchowa, Joanna Duska, Mariusz Frodyma, Beata Hejmo, Dorota Janeczko, Katarzyna Jasińska, Krystyna Kajtoch, Joanna Kozioł, Marian Kucała, Dorota Mika, Gabriela Niemiec, Urszula Poprawska, Elżbieta Supranowicz, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, Piotr Szpor, Bartłomiej Borek, editors (2011–2015), “element”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

      Old Slovak

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      Alternative forms

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      Etymology

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      Learned borrowing from Latin elementum.[1]

      Noun

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      element m inan

      1. element (basic substance)
      2. element (one of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists: water, earth, fire, and air)

      Descendants

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      References

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      1. ^ Králik, Ľubor (2016), “element”, in Stručný etymologický slovník slovenčiny [Concise Etymological Dictionary of Slovak] (in Slovak), Bratislava: VEDA; JÚĽŠ SAV, →ISBN, page 145
      • Majtán, Milan et al., editors (1991–2008), “element”, in Historický slovník slovenského jazyka [Historical Dictionary of the Slovak Language] (in Slovak), volumes 1–7 (A – Ž), Bratislava: VEDA, →OCLC

      Polish

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      Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
      Wikipedia pl

      Etymology

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      Etymology tree
      Latin elementumlbor.
      Old Polish element
      Polish element

        Inherited from Old Polish element.

        Pronunciation

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        • Audio:(file)
        • Rhymes: -ɛmɛnt
        • Syllabification: e‧le‧ment

        Noun

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        element m inan (diminutive elemencik)

        1. element (small part of the whole)
        2. member; dregs (person or group with negative traits)
          Wieczorami w knajpie zbierał się podejrzany element. ― In the evenings, a suspicious group congregated in the pub.
        3. element (one of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists: water, earth, fire, and air)
          Synonym: żywioł
        4. (mathematics) element (infinitesimal interval of a quantity, a differential)
        5. (in the plural) elements (basic principles of a field of knowledge, basics, fundamentals, rudiments)
          Synonym: podstawy
        6. (obsolete, chemistry) element (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)
          Synonym: pierwiastek
        7. (Middle Polish) substance
          Synonym: substancja

        Declension

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        Declension of element
        singular plural
        nominative element elementy
        genitive elementu elementów
        dative elementowi elementom
        accusative element elementy
        instrumental elementem elementami
        locative elemencie elementach
        vocative elemencie elementy

        Trivia

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        According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), element is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 49 times in scientific texts, 12 times in news, 44 times in essays, 6 times in fiction, and 0 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 111 times, making it the 549th most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.[1]

        References

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        1. ^ Ida Kurcz (1990), “element”, in Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej [Frequency dictionary of the Polish language]‎[2] (in Polish), volume 1, Kraków; Warszawa: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Języka Polskiego, page 111

        Further reading

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        Romanian

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        Etymology

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        Borrowed from French élément, from Latin elementum.

        Noun

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        element n (plural elemente)

        1. element

        Declension

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        singular plural
        indefinite definite indefinite definite
        nominative-accusative element elementul elemente elementele
        genitive-dative element elementului elemente elementelor
        vocative elementule elementelor

        Serbo-Croatian

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        Alternative forms

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        Pronunciation

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        • IPA(key): /elěment/
        • Hyphenation: e‧le‧ment

        Noun

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        elèment m inan (Cyrillic spelling елѐмент)

        1. element

        Declension

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        Declension of element
        singular plural
        nominative elèment elementi
        genitive elementa elèmenātā
        dative elementu elementima
        accusative element elemente
        vocative elemente elementi
        locative elementu elementima
        instrumental elementom elementima

        Slovak

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        Slovak Wikipedia has an article on:
        Wikipedia sk

        Etymology

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        Inherited from Old Slovak element, from Latin elementum.

        Pronunciation

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        • IPA(key): /element/, [ˈelement]
        • Rhymes: -ement
        • Hyphenation: e‧le‧ment

        Noun

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        element m inan

        1. element (small part of the whole)
        2. element (one of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists: water, earth, fire, and air)
        3. (chemistry) element (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. element (factor, one of the conditions contributing to a result)
        5. (engineering) A simple machine component occurring separately or as a whole on various devices.

        Declension

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        Declension of element
        (pattern dub)
        singularplural
        nominativeelementelementy
        genitiveelementuelementov
        dativeelementuelementom
        accusativeelementelementy
        locativeelementeelementoch
        instrumentalelementomelementmi

        Noun

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        element m animal or m pers

        1. member; dregs (person or group with negative traits)

        Declension

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        Declension of element
        (patterns chlap (singular, plural 2) and dub (plural 1))
        singularplural 1plural 2
        nominativeelementelementyelementi
        genitiveelementaelementovelementov
        dativeelementovi,
        elementu        		elementomelementom
        accusativeelementaelementyelementov
        locativeelementovi,
        elementu        		elementochelementoch
        instrumentalelementomelementmielementmi

        Further reading

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        • “element”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026

        Swedish

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        Pronunciation

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        Noun

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        element n

        1. element; basic building block of matter in ancient philosophy
        2. element; a place or state of being that an individual or object is better suited towards
        3. elements; forces of weather
        4. element; an object in a set
        5. (mathematics) element of a matrix
        6. heating element, radiator
        7. (computing) element; object in markup language

        Declension

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        Declension of element
        nominative genitive
        singular indefinite element elements
        definite elementet elementets
        plural indefinite element elements
        definite elementen elementens
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        Turkish

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        Etymology

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        From Latin elementum. Doublet of eleman.

        Pronunciation

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        • IPA(key): /eleˈmænt/
        • Hyphenation: e‧le‧ment

        Noun

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        element (definite accusative elementi, plural elementler)

        1. (chemistry) element

        Declension

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        Declension of element
        singular plural
        nominative element elementler
        definite accusative elementi elementleri
        dative elemente elementlere
        locative elementte elementlerde
        ablative elementten elementlerden
        genitive elementin elementlerin
        Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=element&oldid=90774421"