Element
['elɪm(ə)nt] or ['ɛləmənt]
Definition
(noun.) the most favorable environment for a plant or animal; 'water is the element of fishes'.
(noun.) a straight line that generates a cylinder or cone.
(noun.) the situation in which you are happiest and most effective; 'in your element'.
(noun.) one of four substances thought in ancient and medieval cosmology to constitute the physical universe; 'the alchemists believed that there were four elements'.
Editor: Ned--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) 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.
(n.) One of the ultimate, undecomposable constituents of any kind of matter. Specifically: (Chem.) A substance which cannot be decomposed into different kinds of matter by any means at present employed; as, the elements of water are oxygen and hydrogen.
(n.) One of the ultimate parts which are variously combined in anything; as, letters are the elements of written language; hence, also, a simple portion of that which is complex, as a shaft, lever, wheel, or any simple part in a machine; one of the essential ingredients of any mixture; a constituent part; as, quartz, feldspar, and mica are the elements of granite.
(n.) One out of several parts combined in a system of aggregation, when each is of the nature of the whole; as, a single cell is an element of the honeycomb.
(n.) One of the smallest natural divisions of the organism, as a blood corpuscle, a muscular fiber.
(n.) One of the simplest essential parts, more commonly called cells, of which animal and vegetable organisms, or their tissues and organs, are composed.
(n.) An infinitesimal part of anything of the same nature as the entire magnitude considered; as, in a solid an element may be the infinitesimal portion between any two planes that are separated an indefinitely small distance. In the calculus, element is sometimes used as synonymous with differential.
(n.) Sometimes a curve, or surface, or volume is considered as described by a moving point, or curve, or surface, the latter being at any instant called an element of the former.
(n.) One of the terms in an algebraic expression.
(n.) One of the necessary data or values upon which a system of calculations depends, or general conclusions are based; as, the elements of a planet's orbit.
(n.) The simplest or fundamental principles of any system in philosophy, science, or art; rudiments; as, the elements of geometry, or of music.
(n.) Any outline or sketch, regarded as containing the fundamental ideas or features of the thing in question; as, the elements of a plan.
(n.) One of the simple substances, as supposed by the ancient philosophers; one of the imaginary principles of matter.
(n.) The four elements were, air, earth, water, and fire
(n.) the conditions and movements of the air.
(n.) The elements of the alchemists were salt, sulphur, and mercury.
(n.) The whole material composing the world.
(n.) The bread and wine used in the eucharist or Lord's supper.
(v. t.) To compound of elements or first principles.
(v. t.) To constitute; to make up with elements.
Edited by Jimmy
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Simple body, uncompounded body, ultimate part.[2]. Constituent, component, ingredient, constituent principle, component part.[3]. Proper state, proper sphere.[4]. Rudiment, first principle, essential point.
Typist: Nora
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Component, part, atom
ANT:Whole, total, mass, aggregate
Checked by Basil
Definition
n. a first principle: one of the essential parts of anything: an ingredient: the proper state or sphere of any thing or being: (pl.) the rudiments of learning: the bread and wine used in the Eucharist: fire air earth and water supposed by the ancients to be the foundation of everything: (chem.) the simplest known constituents of all compound substances: (astron.) those numerical quantities and those principles deduced from astronomical observations and calculations which are employed in the construction of tables exhibiting the planetary motions.—adj. Element′al pertaining to elements or first principles: fundamental: belonging to or produced by elements.—n. Element′alism the theory which resolves the divinities of antiquity into the elemental powers.—adv. Element′ally.—adj. Element′ary of a single element: primary: uncompounded: pertaining to the elements: treating of first principles.—Elemental spirits beings in medieval belief who presided over the four 'elements ' living in and ruling them.
Inputed by Angie
Examples
- The latter is the element that we breathe and which passes into the body, there to combine with the impurities resulting from the various life activities. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- This Ph?nician alliance sustained him, and was the essential element in the greatness of his son Solomon. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- But how important an element enclosure is, I plainly saw near Farnham, in Surrey. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Hence they have a difficulty in receiving the first element of improvement, which is self-knowledge. Plato. The Republic.
- The two gentlemen undressed leisurely on the bank, Maurice making fun of the Greek as he revelled in his favorite element. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- Thinking is thus equivalent to an explicit rendering of the intelligent element in our experience. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- The most conspicuous element in this is the wide-spread acceptance of the X-ray as a necessary tool of the medical profession. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- The thought, taken up by electrical engineers, brought out an electric toaster, rectangular in shape, with handsome frame, nickel supports and wire heating element. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- While the earth is literally bathed in nitrogen, this element is found to only a very slight degree in the soil. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Above all, the intellectual element in a habit fixes the relation of the habit to varied and elastic use, and hence to continued growth. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Mo reover, the electrical theory of matter lends support to the hypothesis that there is a fundamental unitary element underlying all the so-called elements. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- Let us apply the first element in this criterion to a despotically governed state. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- There is a distinct element of danger. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- The line between the Rebel and Union element in Georgetown was so marked that it led to divisions even in the churches. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- They represented the Aristotelian, the Hellenic, and Macedonian element. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Against artillery of the present day the land forts and walls would prove elements of weakness rather than strength. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- The art of manufacturing gems synthetically, that is, by the combination of chemical elements present in the real stone, has reached a high degree of success. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- He puts his trust in a snow-cloud; the wilderness, the wind, and the hail-storm are his refuge; his allies are the elements--air, fire, water. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Recourse to the primitive may furnish the fundamental elements of the present situation in immensely simplified form. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- In the following year Davy reported other chemical changes produced by electricity; he had succeeded in decomposing the fixed alkalis and disc overing the elements potassium and sodium. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- Turkish elements in Russian, Latin in English, Hamitic in Keltic, & so forth; & omitting various Indian, Melanesian & other groups. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Fundamentally, the elements involved in a discussion of value have been covered in the prior discussion of aims and interests. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Important elements in German life struggled against this swaggering new autocracy. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- It was a curious example of establishing standard practice while changing with kaleidoscopic rapidity all the elements involved. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Sometimes she observed the war of elements, thinking that they also declared against her, and listened to the pattering of the rain in gloomy despair. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Uke causes still produce like effects; in the same manner as in the mutual action of the elements and powers of nature. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- Mo reover, the electrical theory of matter lends support to the hypothesis that there is a fundamental unitary element underlying all the so-called elements. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- One is reminded of the lines of Tennyson: Large elements in order brought And tracts of calm from tempest made, And world fluctuation swayed In vassal tides that followed thought. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- We have already glanced, in Chapter XII, at the elements of religion that must have arisen necessarily in the minds of those early peoples. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- By a process of cleaning and boiling the albuminoid elements of the animal matter are changed into gelatine. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
Editor: Rodney