element English · revision 5065

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300|origins=la elementum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈel.ɪ.mənt/, /ˈel.ə.mənt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|element]], [[bor|fro|element]] and directly from [[la|elementum|t=rudiment, first principle]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) which translated Greek [[grc|στοιχεῖον|tr=stoikheîon|t=step, component part]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) The origin of the Latin word is unknown.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ One of the four substances, earth, water, air and fire, thought to make up all things: about 1300.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The simplest part of a complex substance is from the late 14th century (about 1386 in the OED).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The idea that each kind of creature lived naturally in one of the four elements gave the sense “natural environment”, as in the phrase ''in one's element'', from the 1590s.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) In earlier English the air was often “the element”, as in the Rheims version of Matthew 16:3.^(Trench 1859) The plural, the forces of the weather, is from the 1550s.^(Etymonline) The bread and wine of the Eucharist are “elements” from 1593.^(OED 1989) The modern chemical sense is from 1813, in Humphry Davy's Elements of Agricultural Chemistry.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – one of the four elements.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1386 – a component part.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1550s – the elements, the weather.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1590s – one's natural environment.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1593 – the bread and wine of the Eucharist.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1813 – a chemical element.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A basic part of something complex.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(chemistry)'' A substance that cannot be broken down into simpler substances by chemical means.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A small group within a larger group, often disapproved of: ''the criminal element''.^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(plural)'' The forces of the weather.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(plural)'' The basic principles of a subject.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The wire that heats in an electric heater or kettle.^(Collins 2023)

+ # A natural or suitable environment: ''in one's element''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[interelement]]

+ * [[microelement]]

+ * [[radioelement]]

+ * [[texel]]

+ * [[thermoelement]]

+ * [[identity element]]

+ * [[major element]]

+ * [[rare earth element]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[elemental]]

+ * [[elementary]]

+ * [[transelement]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Element, component, constituent, factor and ingredient all mean one of the parts of a whole, but element often stresses that the part is basic or cannot be reduced further.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}