| element | |
| 1. n. 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. | |
| 2. n. (chemistry) 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 | |
| 3. n. One of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists: water, earth, fire, and air. | |
| 4. n. (legal) A required aspect or component of a cause of action. A deed is regarded a violation of law only if each element can be proved. | |
| 5. n. (set theory) One of the objects in a set. | |
| 6. n. Any of the teeth of a zip fastener. | |
| 7. n. A small part of the whole. | |
| an element of doubt; an element of the picture | |
| 8. n. (plural only, with "the") Atmospheric forces such as strong winds and rains. | |
| exposed to the elements | |
| 9. n. A place or state of being that an individual or object is best suited to. | |
| to be in one's element | |
| 10. n. (Christianity, usually plural) The bread and wine taken at Holy Communion. | |
| 11. n. A group of people within a larger group having a particular common characteristic. | |
| You sometimes find the hooligan element at football matches. | |
| 12. n. A component in electrical equipment, often in the form of a coil, having a high resistance, thereby generating heat when a current is passed through it. | |
| The element in this electric kettle can heat the water in under a minute. | |
| 13. n. (computing) One of the conceptual objects in a markup language, usually represented in text by a matching pair of tags. | |
| 14. v. (obsolete) To compound of elements. | |
| 15. v. (obsolete) To constitute and be the elements of. | |
