elementary

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˌel.ɪˈmen.tər.i/, US /ˌel.əˈmen.t̬ɚ.i/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English elementare, borrowed from Latin elementārius (“belonging to the elements or rudiments”),^[2][3][4] perhaps also through Middle French élémentaire,^[5] from elementum (“principle, rudiment”) (see element).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having the nature of the four elements, earth, air, fire and water: the late 14th century in Etymonline;^[2][4] composed of the elements, material, about 1440 in the OED.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Rudimentary, involving first principles, is from the 1540s,^[2] and simple from the 1620s.^[2] The NODE dates the current senses from the mid-16th century.^[4] Relating to the great forces of nature is from 1739.^[6] The elementary school (1841) has the rudimentary sense.^[2] Elementary particles in physics are subatomic particles not known to be made of smaller ones.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1440 – composed of the four elements.^[6]
• 1540s – rudimentary.^[2]
• 1620s – simple.^[2]
• 1739 – of the forces of nature.^[6]
• 1841 – elementary school.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Simple and easy; basic.
2. Dealing with the first principles of a subject; introductory.
3. Relating to an elementary school or the first years of education.
4. (physics) Not made of smaller parts: an elementary particle.

Word family

• elementarily
• elementariness
• nonelementary
• postelementary
• superelementary
• unelementary
• elementary charge
• elementary function

Related words

• element
• elemental

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press