Word.ws English Dictionary

element

Syllables: el·e·mentUK/ˈɛlɪmənt//ˈɛləmənt/

element noun: 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.

Noun

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.
    • The simplicity which is so large an element in a noble nature was laughed to scorn.1881, Benjamin Jowett, Thucydides
    1. Any one of the types of atom distinguished by having a certain number of protons in its nucleus.
      • 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.2013, “Elements for Kids — Hydrogen”, in www.duckster.com, archived from the original on 15 Jul 2013
    2. 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.
    3. One of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists: water, earth, fire, and air.
      • The she asked the elements to send their spirits to her.1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 59
    4. (plural-normally) A basic, simple substance out of which something is made, raw material.
      • Thus ſhall my heart be ſtil combinde with thine,
        Untill our bodies turne to Elements:
        And both our ſoules aſpire celeſtiall thrones.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...
    5. 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.
    6. One of the objects in a set.
      • […] the majority of names being compounded of two elements chosen from a stock of special name-words.1945, E[lizabeth] G[idley] Withycombe, “Introduction”, in The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page xi
    7. One of the entries of a matrix.
    8. 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
    • 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.1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings
  4. A factor, one of the conditions contributing to a result.
  5. (obsolete) The sky.
    • 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!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, […]...
  6. (obsolete) Any one of the heavenly spheres believed to carry the celestial bodies in premodern cosmology.
  7. (in plural, with-definite-article) Atmospheric forces such as strong winds and rains.
    • exposed to the elements
  8. A place or state of being that a person or object is best suited to.
    • to be in one’s element
  9. (plural-normally) The bread and wine taken at Holy Communion.
  10. A group of people within a larger group having a particular common characteristic.
    • You sometimes find the hooligan element at football matches.
  11. (in plural) The basic principles of a field of knowledge, basics, fundamentals, rudiments.
    • Miniature Nuremberg kitchens complete with all the utensils were said to teach children the elements of housewifery.1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 198
  12. 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.
    • 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.1960 February, “High-Voltage Electric Locomotive for British Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 125
Show 3 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. An infinitesimal interval of a quantity, a differential.
    • The element of area in Cartesian coordinates is dx dy.
  2. An orbital element; one of the parameters needed to uniquely specify a particular orbit.
  3. One of the conceptual objects in a markup language, usually represented in text by tags.
    • The div element was introduced into HTML as a solution to the layout problem.2011, Richard Wagner, Creating Web Pages All-in-One For Dummies

Verb

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

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To compound (something) out of elements.
    • Dull ſublunary lovers love / (VVhoſe ſoule is ſenſe) cannot admit / Abſence, becauſe it doth remove / Thoſe things vvhich elemented it.1611 or 1612 (date written), J[ohn] Donne, “A Valediction Forbidding Mourning”, in Poems, […] with Elegies on the Authors Death, London: […] M[iles] F[lesher] for Iohn Marriot, […], published 1633...
    • elemented bodies1661, Robert Boyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Sceptical Chymist: or Chymico-physical Doubts & Paradoxes, […], London: […] J. Cadwell for J. Crooke, […], →OCLC
  2. (obsolete, transitive) To constitute and be the elements of (something).
    • His very soul was elemented of nothing but sadness.1658, Izaak Walton, Life of Donne

element meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

element in Hindi

simplest or essential part or principle of anything
तत्त्व tattva
chemistry: simplest chemical substance
तत्व tatva

element in Tamil

தனிமம், மூலகம், அங்கம்

element in Marathi

chemistry: simplest chemical substance
मूलद्रव्य mūladravya

element in Urdu

simplest or essential part or principle of anything
عُنْصُر 'unsur
chemistry: simplest chemical substance
عُنْصُر 'unsur
More languagesFewer languages
element in Bengali
ধাতু dhatu, মৌল mōul
element in Telugu
మూలకము mūlakamu
element in Malayalam
മൂലകം mūlakaṁ
element in Kannada
ಧಾತು, ಅಂಶ, ಭಾಗ, ಘಟಕ
element in Punjabi
ਤੱਤ tatta
element in Gujarati
તત્વ tatva
element in Odia
ମୌଳିକ mauḷika
element in Sanskrit
धातु dhātu
element in Assamese
মৌল moul
element in Nepali
तत्व tatwa
element in Pashto
توکی tukáy, عنصر ansór
element in Tagalog
elemento, bahagi, mulangkap
element in Arabic
عُنْصُر ʕunṣur, عُنْصُر كِيمِيَائِيّ ʕunṣur kīmiyāʔiyy
element in Malay
unsur
element in Thai
ธาตุ tâat, สมาชิก sà-maa-chík, ส่วนย่อย
element in Vietnamese
yếu tố, nguyên tố
element in Myanmar
ဓါတ် dhat, ဒြပ်စင် drapcang, ဓာတ် dhat

Examples of element in a sentence

  • The quotient ring over a maximal ideal is a field with a single zero element.
  • The salt factory is a key connecting element in the seawater infrastructure.
  • The form has fields for each element of the customer's home address and shipping address.

All 40 example sentences with element

Synonyms of element

Forms of element

Noun
pluralelements
Verb
third-person singular presentelements
present participleelementing
past participleelemented
pastelemented

Plural of element: elements

Origin of element

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.

Words formed from element

Phrases with element

11 more phrasesFewer phrases

Questions about element

What does element mean?
Element means 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.
What is element in Hindi?
Element in Hindi is तत्त्व (tattva), तत्व (tatva). See Element meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is element?
Element can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce element?
Element is pronounced /ˈɛlɪmənt/ (UK).
What is the plural of element?
The plural of element is elements.

Words near element in the dictionary

  1. elem
  2. elem.
  3. Eleme fig
  4. Eleme figs
  5. elemeno
  6. element
  7. element 0
  8. element number
  9. element numbers
  10. element of surprise
  11. element zero

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: element (page history and authors); element (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); element (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-element.ogg.

Cite this entry: “element.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/element. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.