Definition of element:

• An infinitesimal part of anything of the same nature as the entire magnitude considered; as, in a solid an element may be the infinitesimal portion between any two planes that are separated an indefinitely small distance. In the calculus, element is sometimes used as synonymous with differential.
• To compound of elements or first principles.
• To constitute; to make up with elements.
• The first rules or principles of an art or science; rudiments; data; the bread and wine used at the Eucharist; those bodies which cannot be resolved by chemical analysis, and are therefore presumed to be simple; fire, air, earth, and water, to which some add ether, formerly supposed to constitute the world.
• The first rules or principles of any branch of knowledge; rudiments; data; an outline or sketch; the bread and wine used in the Eucharist or Lord's Supper.
• Rudiments.
• The bread and wine of the Lord's Supper.
• Natural agencies, as of earth, air, fire, and water.
• any of the more than 100 known substances ( of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter
• one of four substances thought in ancient and medieval cosmology to constitute the physical universe; " the alchemists believed that there were four elements"
• the most favorable environment for a plant or animal; " water is the element of fishes"
• a straight line that generates a cylinder or cone
• the situation in which you are happiest and most effective; " in your element"
• 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.
• One of the ultimate, undecomposable constituents of any kind of matter. Specifically: ( Chem.) A substance which cannot be decomposed into different kinds of matter by any means at present employed; as, the elements of water are oxygen and hydrogen.
• One of the ultimate parts which are variously combined in anything; as, letters are the elements of written language; hence, also, a simple portion of that which is complex, as a shaft, lever, wheel, or any simple part in a machine; one of the essential ingredients of any mixture; a constituent part; as, quartz, feldspar, and mica are the elements of granite.
• One out of several parts combined in a system of aggregation, when each is of the nature of the whole; as, a single cell is an element of the honeycomb.
• One of the smallest natural divisions of the organism, as a blood corpuscle, a muscular fiber.
• One of the simplest essential parts, more commonly called cells, of which animal and vegetable organisms, or their tissues and organs, are composed.
• Sometimes a curve, or surface, or volume is considered as described by a moving point, or curve, or surface, the latter being at any instant called an element of the former.
• One of the terms in an algebraic expression.
• One of the necessary data or values upon which a system of calculations depends, or general conclusions are based; as, the elements of a planet's orbit.
• The simplest or fundamental principles of any system in philosophy, science, or art; rudiments; as, the elements of geometry, or of music.
• Any outline or sketch, regarded as containing the fundamental ideas or features of the thing in question; as, the elements of a plan.
• One of the simple substances, as supposed by the ancient philosophers; one of the imaginary principles of matter.
• The four elements were, air, earth, water, and fire
• the conditions and movements of the air.
• The whole material composing the world.
• A first or main principle; one of the main parts of the physical world, as fire, water, air, etc.; natural environment, or life with which one is familiar; as, he is out of his element; ingredient; in chemistry, a substance which cannot be separated into other substances.
• 1. A simple substance, one which is incapable of being split up into other substances. 2. A cell or other indivisible anatomical structure. 3. Earth, air, fire, or water, formerly regarded as the principles of which all matter was composed.
• A simple substance; the last substance of an analyzed compound.
• A first principle: one of the essential parts of anything: an ingredient: the proper state or sphere of any thing or being:- pl. the rudiments of anything: ( chem.) the simple bodies that have not been decomposed: among the ancients, fire, air, earth, and water, supposed to be the constituents of all things: the bread and wine used at the Communion.
• Elemental.
• First principle; simple constituent; ingredient; proper sphere.
• A component; constituent; ingredient.
• The natural sphere or environment.
• A form of matter which can not be decomposed by any known means.
• First principle; one of the simple constituent parts of a thing; the proper state or sphere of a thing; outline or sketch; moving cause or principle.
• A simple substance; the first or constitnent principle of anything; an ingredient or constituent part; the proper sphere or state of anything.
• A substance that cannot be separated into simpler substances.

Usage examples for element

1. Now there was a new grim element in his voice.  The Film Mystery by Arthur B. Reeve

2. Second, wheat prices are only one element in the general price- level.  The Value of Money by Benjamin M. Anderson, Jr.

3. And yet There is an element of self- love in the very extremest of love.  Hints for Lovers by Arnold Haultain

4. It is an element in humanity which must affect the whole of life.  Men, Women, and God by A. Herbert Gray