▪ I. element, n.
(ˈɛlɪmənt)
Forms: 3–4, 7 elemens (pl.), 4 ela-, elemente, 5 elymente, 6 elyment, elemente, 4– element.
[a. OF. element, ad. L. elementum, a word of which the etymology and primary meaning are uncertain, but which was employed as transl. of Gr. στοιχεῖον in the various senses:—a component unit of a series; a constituent part of a complex whole (hence the ‘four elements’); a member of the planetary system; a letter of the alphabet; a fundamental principle of a science.]
I. A component part of a complex whole.
* of material things.
1. One of the simple substances of which all material bodies are compounded. † a. In ancient and mediæval philosophy these were believed to be: Earth, water, air, and fire. See examples in 9. Obs. exc. Hist.
† b. In pre-scientific chemistry the supposed ‘elements’ were variously enumerated, the usual number being about five or six. (See quots.)
| 1724 Watts Logic i. ii. §2 (1822) 17 The chemist makes spirit, salt, sulphur, water, and earth, to be their five elements. 1765 Dict. Art & Sc. II. s.v. Element [enumerate Water, Air, Oil, Salt, Earth]. |
c. In modern chemistry applied to those substances (of which more than seventy are now known) which have hitherto resisted analysis, and which are provisionally supposed to be simple bodies.
| 1813 Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. i. (1814) 8 Bodies..not capable of being decompounded are considered..as elements. 1830 M. Donovan Dom. Econ. I. 111 Sugar is composed of three elements, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. 1841 Emerson Ess. Hist. Wks. (Bohn) I. 17 Fifty or sixty chemical elements. 1854 Bushnan in Circ. Sc. (c 1865) II. 6/1 The proximate elements are formed by the union of several ultimate elements. 1881 Williamson in Nature No. 618. 414 The foundation of..chemistry was laid by the discovery of chemical elements. |
2. In wider sense: One of the relatively simple substances of which a complex substance is composed; in pl. the ‘raw material’ of which a thing is made.
| c 1386 Chaucer Friar's T. 206 Make ye yow newe bodies alway Of elementz. 1593 Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. iii, If those principall & mother elements of the world, whereof all things in this lower world are made, should loose the qualities which now they haue. 1610 Shakes. Temp. iii. iii. 61 The Elements Of whom your swords are temper'd may as well Wound the loud windes. 1851 Carpenter Man. Phys. 319 The two elements [Fibrine and the Red Corpuscles] separating from each other laterally. |
3. The bread and wine used in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Chiefly pl.
[The word elementa is used in late L. in the sense of ‘articles of food and drink, the solid and liquid portions of a meal’ (see Du Cange); but in the ecclesiastical use there is probably a reference to the philosophical sense of mere ‘matter’ as apart from ‘form’; the ‘form’, by virtue of which the ‘elements’ became Christ's body and blood, being believed to be imparted by the act of consecration.]
| 1593 Hooker Eccl. Pol. iv. i. (1611) 128 Vnto the element let the word bee added, and they two make a Sacrament. a 1600 tr. Calvin's Comm. Prayer-bk. in Phenix (1708) II. 245 As if these Elements were turn'd and chang'd into the Substance of his Flesh and Blood. 1607 Hieron Wks. I. 256 Such slender & vnlikely elemens of water, bread & wine. 1633 D. Rogers Sacraments 132 They..bring an whole unbroken Element, made of a fine white delicate wafer. 1745 Wesley Answ. Ch. 35 He deliver'd the Elements with his own Hands. 1866 Direct. Angl. (ed. 3) 354 Elements, the materials used in the Sacraments. |
4. a. Physiol. A definite small portion of an animal or vegetable structure.
| 1841–71 T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. 654 Two elements [of a vertebra] which embrace the spinal marrow. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. & Ferns 182 Small vascular bundles composed of narrow elements. Ibid. 459 On the side of the wood, new elements..are constantly added. |
b. One of the essential parts of any scientific apparatus; used esp. of simple instruments united to form a complex instrument of the same kind. voltaic element: usually = cell 10, but sometimes = electrode.
| 1831 Brewster Nat. Magic vi. (1833) 148 We can even reproduce them..with the simplest elements of our optical apparatus. 1871 tr. Schellen's Spectr. Anal. ix. 67 An electric battery of 50 Bunsen's or Grove's large elements. |
c. The resistance wire carrying the current in an electric heater; (also used of) the bar or collection of pieces of asbestos, etc., in an electric or gas stove.
| 1906 Nature 17 May 60/2 The method exemplified is the use of silicated carbon upon a terra-cotta base, forming an ‘element’. 1925 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CXI. 535 The dimensions, temperature..distribution of heating elements..and various furnace types are considered. 1926 Gloss. Terms Electr. Engin. (B.S.I.) 153 Heating element, the complete resistor, including the element carrier on which it is wound, as used in ovens, electric fires, radiators, etc. 1952 ‘N. Shute’ Far Country iii. 75 The girl stared at the hot elements of the fire. |
** of non-material things.
5. a. A constituent portion of an immaterial whole, as of a concept, character, state of things, community, etc.
| 1599 Shakes. Much Ado ii. i. 357 There's little of the melancholy element in her, my lord. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. 7 These simple Elements of Magnitude, Figure, Site and Motion..are all clearly intelligible as different Modes of extended Substance. 1833 Browning Pauline 21, I strip my mind bare—whose first elements I shall unveil. 1841 Emerson Eng. Traits, Character Wks. (Bohn) II. 61 This [English] race has added new elements to humanity, and has a deeper root in the world. 1845 Graves in Encycl. Metrop. 783/1 Mixed with bigotry and superstition, it [the canon law] will be found to contain many pure elements. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. iii. 93 In our old constitution we find the elements of feudalism. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. III. 187 Size is certainly one main element of beauty. 1876 Green Short Hist. vii. §5 (1882) 386 The woollen manufacture had become an important element in the national wealth. Mod. The Celtic and Teutonic elements in the population. |
b. Often followed by of = ‘consisting of’.
| 1851 Helps Friends in C. I. 11 These practices have elements of charity and prudence as well as fear and meanness in them. 1866 Kingsley Herew. vii. 129 It had its usual element of cant. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 241 The greatest strength is observed to have an element of limitation. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) III. xii. 162 Mingled with all this there is a certain element of grim merriment. |
c. Math. Any of the symbols or quantities which, set out in an array, constitute a determinant or matrix.
| [1859 G. Salmon Lessons Mod. Higher Algebra i. 1 The coefficients a1, b1, &c., which enter into the expression of a determinant, are called the constituents of that determinant, and the products a1b2, &c., are called the elements of the determinant.] 1867 C. L. Dodgson Elem. Treat. Determinants ii. 6 If mn quantities be so placed as to form m rows and n columns: they are said to form a Block; and the mn quantities are called the Elements of such a Block. 1881 [see constituent a. and n. B. 4]. 1939 A. C. Aitken Determinants & Matrices i. 4 A matrix may possibly consist of a single row, or of a single column, of elements. 1968 P. A. P. Moran Introd. Probability Theory iii. 109 p(t) is a column vector whose elements are p1 (t),{ddd},pn(t). |
d. Math. and Logic. [cf. G. element in same sense (G. Cantor in Math. Ann. (1882) XX. 114, (1883) XXI. 587, (1895) XLVI. 481, etc.).] Any of the (real or conceptual) entities of which a set is composed; an entity that satisfies the criterion or criteria used to define a set.
| 1857 [see set n.2 10]. 1901 L. E. Dickson Linear Groups i. 5 A set of s distinct elements satisfying the above four conditions is said to form a field of order s. 1953 A. A. Fraenkel Abstract Set Theory i. 22 In fact ‘x is red’ corresponds to the relation ‘x is an element of the set of all red things’. 1965 Shih-Chên Hu Elem. Mod. Algebra v. 119 The only nilpotent element in an integral domain is the zero element 0. |
6. One of the facts or conditions which ‘enter into’ or determine the result of a process, calculation, deliberation, or inquiry. Also with of (cf. 5 b).
| 1812 Woodhouse Astron. ix. 66 The length of a sidereal year (an element of little or no importance in Astronomy). 1823 Chalmers Serm. I. 129 His will was reduced to an element of utter insignificancy. 1842 W. Grove Corr. Phys. Forces 32 If the element of quantity be included, this objection will not apply. 1866 Crump Banking iii. 72 The periodical publication of accounts by the joint-stock banks furnishes a very important element in coming to a decision. 1876 Mozley Univ. Serm. iv. 88 Everything depends upon one element in the case, which element they cannot get at. |
7. spec. (pl.) a. Astron. The data necessary to determine the orbit of a heavenly body. b. Cryst. Those needed to determine the form of a crystal.
| 1788–9 Howard Encycl., Elements, in astronomy, are..those fundamental numbers, which are employed in the construction of tables of the planetary motions. 1816 Playfair Nat. Phil. II. 197 The elements of their [comets'] orbits..agreed nearly with those of the Comet of 1682. 1834 M. Somerville Connex. Phys. Sc. ii. (1849) 12 This depends upon seven quantities called the elements of the orbit. 1878 Gurney Crystallogr. 41 The three angles between the axes and two of the ratios between the parameters, are called the elements of the crystal. |
8. Math. An infinitesimal part of a magnitude of any kind; a differential.
| 1727–51 Chambers Cycl., Element of an area, called also its differential, is the rectangle..of the semi-ordinate..into the differential of the absciss. 1882 Minchin Unipl. Kinemat. 112 P any point in the lamina at which the element of mass is dm. 1885 Watson & Burbury Math. Th. Electr. & Magn. I. 250 The molecular distributions within the element of volume dx dy dz. |
II. The ‘four elements’.
9. a. Used as a general name for earth, water, air, and fire; originally in sense 1, to which many of the earlier instances have explicit reference; now merely as a matter of traditional custom.
| a 1300 Signs bef. Judgm. 177 in E.E.P. (1862) 12 Þe .xii. dai þe fure elemens sul cri..merci ihsu fiz mari. c 1300 Fragm. Pop. Sc. (Wright) 120 Bynethe the loweste hevene..Beoth the four elementz, of wham we beoth i-wroȝt. a 1340 Hampole Psalter ix. 34 Þe erth is þe end of thynges & þe last element. 1393 Gower Conf. III. 97 It [air] is eke the thridde element. 1483 Caxton Cato 4 The foure elementes menace alle men that thanke not god. 1535 Coverdale Wisd. xix. 18 The elementes turned in to them selues, like as whan one tune is chaunged vpon an instrument of musick. 1645 Digby Nat. Bodies iv. (1658) 37 There are but four simple bodies: and these are rightly named Elements. 1656 H. More Antid. Ath. (1712) Gen. Pref. 15 Regions of looser particles of the third Element. 1711 Pope Temp. Fame 447 Thro' undulating air the sounds are sent, And spread o'er all the fluid element. 1723 Briton No. iii, Rich wines and high-season'd Ragouts supply the place of Vegetables and meer Element. 1787 G. White Selborne i. 3 Fine limpid water..much commended by those who drink the pure element. 1816 Byron Ch. Har. iii. lxxiv, When elements to elements conform, And dust is as it should be. 1886 T. K. Oliphant New Eng. II. 219 If the great authors named were set up as models..we should never hear of fire as ‘the devouring element’. |
b. fig.
| 1813 Wellington Lett. in Gurw. Disp. XI. 12 A British minister cannot have too often under his view the element by which he is surrounded. 1850 Kingsley Alt. Locke i. (1876) 2 Italy..where natural beauty would have become the very element which I breathed. |
† 10. a. The sky; ? also, the atmosphere. Obs.
[This sense is app. due to med.L. ‘elementum ignis’ as a name of the starry sphere; but there may be a mixture of the sense ‘air’.]
| c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) ii. 371 A meruelous lyȝt fro thelement dyd glyde. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. 15, I..sawe a craggy rocke..neare to the element. 1534 More Treat. Passion Wks. 1307/1 The moone & the sterres appere in the element. 1580 Sidney Arcadia v. (1590) 458 Morning had taken full possession of the element. 1634 Milton Comus 299, I took them for a faery vision Of some gay creatures of the element. 1676 Hobbes Iliad xix. 331 A thick Snow, Which Boreas bloweth through the Element. 1714 Gay Shepherd's Week vi. 3 note, Welkin..is frequently taken for the Element or Sky. |
† b. ? One of the ‘heavens’ or celestial spheres of ancient astronomy (see sphere); also (rarely) one of the heavenly bodies themselves. Obs.
[Cf. med.L. elementa ‘planets’ and ‘signs of the zodiac’; but neither of these senses is clearly evidenced in our quots.]
| a 1300 Cursor M. 395 Þe sterres gret and smale Þat we may se..In þe ouermast element of alle. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame 975 Wyth fetheris of Philosophye To passen everyche element. 1534 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) B b, These were the fyrste that wold serche the trouthe of the elementes of the heuen. 1593 Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. ix, The Sunne, the Moone, any one of the heauens or elements. 1604 Shakes. Oth. iii. iii. 464 Witnesse you euer-burning Lights aboue, You Elements, that clip vs round about. |
11. pl. Atmospheric agencies or powers.
| 1555 Eden Decades W. Ind. i. iv. (Arb.) 81 Owre nation hadde trowbled the elementes. 1605 Shakes. Lear iii. ii. 16, I taxe not you, you Elements with vnkindnesse. 1813 Bakewell Introd. Geol. (1815) 239 Diminution of rocks..by the incessant operation of the elements. 1855 Prescott Philip II, i. iv. (1857) 61 Too gallant a cavalier to be daunted by the elements. 1866 Neale Sequences & H. 102 The war of elements above. |
12. That one of the ‘four elements’ which is the natural abode of any particular class of living beings; said chiefly of air and water. Hence transf. and fig. (a person's) ordinary range of activity, the surroundings in which one feels at home; the appropriate sphere of operation of any agency. Phrases, in, out of (one's) element.
| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iv. ii. 186 She workes by Charmes..beyond our element. 1599 Broughton's Lett. viii. 26 You are in for all day..it is your element. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 275 Our torments also may in length of time Become our Elements. 1673 Temple Observ. United Prov. Wks. 1731 I. 69 It seems to be with Trade, as with the Sea (its Element). 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. iv. 73 When they came to make boards..they were quite out of their element. 1784 Johnson in Boswell III. 629 The town is my element; there are my friends, there are my books. 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. i. xii. (1865) 104 My proper element of prose. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 534 Ferguson was in his element. 1874 Maurice Friendship Bks. iii. 69 Englishmen were to be taught that..the sea was to be their element. Mod. Some fishes can live a long time after removal from their element. |
III. 13. Primordial principle, source of origin. rare.
| 1655–60 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 61/1 Infinity is..the principle and Element of things. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. Concl., That God, which ever lives and loves, One God, one law, one element. |
IV. 14. a. pl. † The letters of the alphabet (obs.). Hence, the rudiments of learning, the ‘A, B, C’; also, the first principles of an art or science.
| 1382 Wyclif Gal. iv. 9 Hou ben ȝe turned..to syke, or freel, and nedy elementis. 1552 Huloet Elementes or principles of grammer—Elementes letters wherof be made sillables. 1612 Brinsley Lud. Lit. i. (1627) 7 Beginning at the very first Elements, even at the A, B, C. 1644 Milton Educ. (1738) 137 At the same time..might be taught..the Elements of Geometry. 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. ii. viii. 60 Man knows first by elements & after long study learns a syllable, & in good time gets a word. 1799 Mackintosh Stud. Law Nat., &c. Wks. 1846 I. 342 Public lectures..have been used..to teach the elements of almost every part of learning. 1833 Cruse Eusebius iv. xxiv. 161 Books containing elements of the faith. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 425 Calculation and geometry and all the other elements of instruction. |
b. Euclid's Elements: the title of a treatise on the rudiments of Geometry.
| 1655–60 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 8/2 Those [propositions] which Euclid hath reduced into his Elements. 1793 T. Beddoes Math. Evid. 47 As if the elements of Euclid were not already tedious enough. 1828 Lardner Euclid Pref., Euclid's Elements were first used in the school of Alexandria. |
▪ II. ˈelement, v.
Also 6 ellement.
[f. prec. n.]
† 1. trans. To compound of elements. Obs.
| 1400 [see elemented ppl. a.]. 1477 Norton Ord. Alch. v. in Ashm. 86 The third thinge elemented of them all. c 1535 [see elemented ppl. a.]. 1582 Batman On Barthol. xi. xvi. 165 Foure elements..of the which all things ellemented..are made. a 1631 Donne Poems (1650) 194 As of this all, though many parts decay, The pure which elemented them shall stay. 1647 A. Farindon Serm. (1672) I. 135 Man thus created, thus elemented and composed. |
2. fig. Now rare.
| 1628 Donne Serm. xlviii. 487 Elemented and composed of Heresies. 1640 Walton Donne 38 His very soul was elemented of nothing but sadness. 1670 ― Lives i. 33 Absence..doth remove Those things that Elemented it [sublunary love]. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 32 A world elemented with Sinne and Misery. 1905 F. Greenslet J. R. Lowell i. 2 When we endeavor to add to our portrait of his personality some analysis of the things that elemented it. |
† 3. To instruct in the rudiments of learning; cf. element n. 14. Obs.
| 1651 Reliq. Wotton. 489, I thought he had been better elemented at Eton. 1662 [see elemented ppl. a. 2]. |