[el-uh-muh
nt] 
| 1. | a component or constituent of a whole or one of the parts into which a whole may be resolved by analysis: Bricks and mortar are elements of every masonry wall. |
| 2. | Chemistry. one of a class of substances that cannot be separated into simpler substances by chemical means. See also chart under periodic table. |
| 3. | a natural habitat, sphere of activity, environment, etc.: to be in one's element; Water is the element of fish. |
| 4. | elements,
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| 5. | any group of people singled out within a larger group by identifiable behavior patterns, common interests, ethnic similarities, etc.: He worried that the protest rally would attract the radical element. |
| 6. | one of the substances, usually earth, water, air, and fire, formerly regarded as constituting the material universe. |
| 7. | Mathematics.
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| 8. | Geometry. one of the points, lines, planes, or other geometrical forms, of which a figure is composed. |
| 9. | Astronomy. any of the data required to define the precise nature of an orbit and to determine the position of a planet in the orbit at any given time. |
| 10. | Electricity. an electric device with terminals for connection to other electrical devices. |
| 11. | Radio. one of the electrodes in a vacuum tube. |
| 12. | Astrology. any of the four triplicity groupings of signs: fire, earth, air, or water. |
| 13. | Optics. any of the lenses or other components constituting an optical system. |
| 14. | Grammar. any word, part of a word, or group of words that recurs in various contexts in a language with relatively constant meaning. |
el·e·ment (ěl'ə-mənt)  (click for larger image in new window) n.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin elementum, perhaps ultimately from lmn, first three letters of the second half of the Canaanite alphabet, recited by ancient scribes when learning it.] Synonyms: These nouns denote one of the individual parts of which a composite entity is made up: the grammatical elements of a sentence; jealousy, a component of his character; melody and harmony, two of the constituents of a musical composition; ambition as a key factor in her success; humor, an effective ingredient of a speech. |
In chemistry, any material (such as carbon, hydrogen, iron, or oxygen) that cannot be broken down into more fundamental substances. Each chemical element has a specific type of atom, and chemical compounds are created when atoms of different elements are bound together into molecules. There are 119 chemical elements whose discovery has been claimed; 92 occur in nature, and the rest have been produced in laboratories.
element el·e·ment (ěl'ə-mənt)
n.
A substance that cannot be reduced to simpler substances by normal chemical means and that is composed of atoms having an identical number of protons in each nucleus.
A fundamental, essential, or irreducible constituent of a composite entity.
Elements
In its primary sense, as denoting the first principles or constituents of things, it is used in 2 Pet. 3:10: "The elements shall be dissolved." In a secondary sense it denotes the first principles of any art or science. In this sense it is used in Gal. 4:3, 9; Col. 2:8, 20, where the expressions, "elements of the world," "week and beggarly elements," denote that state of religious knowledge existing among the Jews before the coming of Christ, the rudiments of religious teaching. They are "of the world," because they are made up of types which appeal to the senses. They are "weak," because insufficient; and "beggarly," or "poor," because they are dry and barren, not being accompanied by an outpouring of spiritual gifts and graces, as the gospel is.
