Elements

How to spell elements

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce elements

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does elements mean?

1. nounThe fundamental parts or essential features that make up something.
2. nounPure chemical substances that cannot be broken down into simpler ones, such as oxygen or iron.
3. nounThe forces of the weather, especially harsh or stormy conditions.

Elements in a sentence

• The report breaks the project down into its core elements.

• The periodic table arranges all known chemical elements by atomic number.

• The campers built a sturdy shelter to protect themselves from the elements.

• Good lighting and clear signage are key elements of the new design.

• Hydrogen and helium are the two lightest elements in the universe.

• Exposed to the elements for years, the old fence had rotted through.

Where does elements come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin elementum, which meant a first principle, a rudiment, or one of the basic constituents of the physical world. The Romans used elementa especially for the four classical building blocks of nature: earth, water, air, and fire, and also for the basic letters of the alphabet, the rudiments of learning. The origin of the Latin word itself is uncertain, with some scholars suggesting it imitated a recitation of letters (l, m, n) much as we might say 'the ABCs'. English took it up through Old French during the medieval period, keeping both the sense of fundamental substances and the sense of basic rudiments one must learn first. The spelling stays steady and phonetic, so the usual trap is simply the unstressed middle vowel in 'el-uh-ment', which sounds like a faint schwa but is written with an 'e'.

How the word is built

• element- (from Latin elementum: a first principle or rudiment)
• -s (plural marker)