Etymologically
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elementary

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 04:19. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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