elemental

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el·e·men·tal

(ĕl′ə-mĕn′tl)

adj.

1. Of, relating to, or being an element.

a. Fundamental or essential; basic.

b. Of or relating to fundamentals; elementary.

c. Constituting an integral part; inborn.

3. Of such character as to resemble a force of nature in power or effect: elemental violence.

In certain occult systems, an inhabitant of one of the four elements, especially any of the beings described by Paracelsus as intermediate in corporeality between humans and spirits.

el′e·men′tal·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

elemental

(ˌɛlɪˈmɛntəl)

adj

1. fundamental; basic; primal: the elemental needs of man.

2. motivated by or symbolic of primitive and powerful natural forces or passions: elemental rites of worship.

3. of or relating to earth, air, water, and fire considered as elements

4. (Physical Geography) of or relating to atmospheric forces, esp wind, rain, and cold

5. (Elements & Compounds) of, relating to, or denoting a chemical element

(European Myth & Legend) rare a spirit or force that is said to appear in physical form

ˌeleˈmentally adv

ˌeleˈmentalˌism n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

el•e•men•tal

(ˌɛl əˈmɛn tl)

adj.

1. being a fundamental constituent; uncompounded.

2. pertaining to rudiments or first principles.

3. starkly simple, or basic: elemental emotions.

4. pertaining to the forces or phenomena of physical nature.

5. pertaining to the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water, or any one of them.

6. pertaining to chemical elements.

[1485–95; < Medieval Latin]

el`e•men′tal•ly, adv.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.	1.	elemental - relating to or being an element; "elemental sulphur"
	2.	elemental - relating to severe atmospheric conditions; "a race against hail or cold rains or some other elemental catastrophe"- J.K.Howard
	3.	elemental - of or being the essential or basic part; "an elementary need for love and nurturing" elementary, primary basic - pertaining to or constituting a base or basis; "a basic fact"; "the basic ingredients"; "basic changes in public opinion occur because of changes in priorities"

elemental

adjective

1. basic, essential, principal, fundamental, elementary the elemental theory of music

2. primal, original, primitive, primordial the elemental powers of the universe

3. atmospheric, natural, meteorological the elemental forces that shaped this rugged Atlantic coast

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

elemental

adjective

1. Of or being an irreducible element:

basic, elementary, essential, fundamental, primitive, ultimate, underlying.

2. Forming an essential element, as arising from the basic structure of an individual:

built-in, congenital, connatural, constitutional, inborn, inbred, indigenous, indwelling, ingrained, inherent, innate, intrinsic, native, natural.

Translations

elemental

élémentaire primaire

elementare essenziale fondamentale secondo natura

elemental

[ˌelɪˈmentl] ADJ → elemental

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

elemental

adj

(liter) truth, life, feeling, drive → elementar; art → urwüchsig; elemental force → Elementargewalt f, → Naturgewalt f; elemental powers → Elementarkräfte pl; the elemental energies (of the four elements) → die Energien pl → der vier Elemente

(Chem) → elementar

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

elemental

[ˌɛlɪˈmɛntl] adj (basic) → fondamentale (Chem, Phys) → elementare; (forces) → della natura

References in classic literature ?

I speak not of the finicking joy of the gourmet, but the joy of an honest appetite in ecstasy, the elemental joy of absorbing quantities of fresh simple food,--mere roast lamb, new potatoes, and peas of living green.

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It is man who, in a chance phrase, interprets the elemental passion of his enemy.

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But once Tashtego's senior, an old Gay-Head Indian among the crew, superstitiously asserted that not till he was full forty years old did Ahab become that way branded, and then it came upon him, not in the fury of any mortal fray, but in an elemental strife at sea.

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Crazed with jealousy and rage, blind and bestial with all the elemental passions of insulted manhood, I entered the house and sprang up the stairs to the door of my wife's chamber.

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I felt that to bring out its deeper significance which was quite apparent to me, something other, something more was required; a leading motive that would harmonize all these violent noises, and a point of view that would put all that elemental fury into its proper place.

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He saw through its frauds and fictions, and found it as elemental as on the Yukon.

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But those who have been under the shadow, who have gone down at last to elemental things, will have a wider charity.

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But perhaps all these comrades of mine struggled just like me and sought something new, a path in life of their own, and like me were brought by force of circumstances, society, and race- by that elemental force against which man is powerless- to the condition I am in," said he to himself in moments of humility; and after living some time in Moscow he no longer despised, but began to grow fond of, to respect, and to pity his comrades in destiny, as he pitied himself.

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On the Exchange there were hurricanes and landslides and snowstorms and glaciers and volcanoes, and those elemental disturbances were reproduced in miniature in the broker's offices.

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He summed up his race, his country, the elemental force of ardent life, of tropical nature.

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It was an elemental odor, raw and crude; it was rich, almost rancid, sensual, and strong.

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Far be it from me to say that in more elemental times such things could not have been.