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Synonyms for element

Synonyms by meaning

Noun

2. Chemical element — one of the simplest or essential parts or principles of which anything consists, or upon which the…

chemical element, elementary substance

Definitions

  1. n. 1

    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. A chemical substance made entirely of one such type of atom; any one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction or by any chemical means and made up of atoms all having the same number of protons.

  2. n. 2

    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.

    Letters are the elements of written language.

Forms

Plural
elements → components, parts, factors, ingredients…

Choose the right word

Element or Elements?

In popular language, an element is any essential constituent; the ancients believed that the universe was made up of the four elements, earth, air, fire, and water; a storm is spoken of as a manifestation of the fury of the elements.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

  • factor I didn't factor those variables into the equation.
  • component All his ideas had a strong dreamlike component.
  • ingredient They concurred that butter is the best ingredient.
  • principle My father made it a principle to keep early hours.

Popularity over time

Word1850 → 2019Trend
elementsteady
factorfalling
componentsteady
ingredientsteady
constituentfalling

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters
part1, dash1, atom2
5 letters
entry2
6 letters
member2, factor2, detail2, sphere1
7 letters
feature2, essence2
8 letters
rudiment3
9 letters
beginning3, component3, principle3
10 letters
ingredient4, substratum, hypostasis
11 letters
constituent4

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (atom2 = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français
élément
Español
elemento
Deutsch
Element
Català
element