element

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See also: Element and élément

English

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 element on Wikipedia
 chemical element on Wikipedia
Examples

Etymology

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From Middle English element, from Old French element, from Latin elementum (“a first principle, element, rudiment”) (see further etymology there).

Pronunciation

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(General American) IPA(key): /ˈɛləmənt/

  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Hyphenation: el‧e‧ment

Noun

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element (plural elements)

  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.
    Letters are the elements of written language.
    1. (chemistry) Any one of the types of atom distinguished by having a certain number of protons in its nucleus.[1]
      Synonym: chemical element
      • 2013, “Elements for Kids — Hydrogen”, in www.duckster.com‎[2], archived from the original on 15 July 2013:
        Hydrogen is the first element in the periodic table. It is the simplest possible atom composed of one proton in the nucleus which is orbited by a single electron.
    2. (chemistry) 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.
      Synonyms: elementary substance, chemical element
    4. One of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists: water, earth, fire, and air.
    5. (usually in the plural) A basic, simple substance out of which something is made, raw material.
    6. (law) A required aspect or component of a cause of action. A deed is regarded as a violation of law only if each element can be proved.
    7. (set theory) One of the objects in a set.
      Synonym: member
    8. (mathematics) One of the entries of a matrix.
    9. Any of the teeth of a zip fastener.
  2. A small part of the whole.
    an element of the picture
  3. A small but present amount of a quality, a hint.
    an element of doubt
    • 1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings:
      The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities. A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff.
  4. A factor, one of the conditions contributing to a result.
  5. (obsolete) The sky.
  6. (obsolete) Any one of the heavenly spheres believed to carry the celestial bodies in premodern cosmology.
  8. (in the plural only, with "the") Atmospheric forces such as strong winds and rains.
    exposed to the elements
  10. A place or state of being that a person or object is best suited to.
    to be in one’s element
  11. (Christianity, usually in the plural) The bread and wine taken at Holy Communion.
  13. A group of people within a larger group having a particular common characteristic.
    You sometimes find the hooligan element at football matches.
  14. (in the plural only) The basic principles of a field of knowledge, basics, fundamentals, rudiments.
    • 1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 198:
      Miniature Nuremberg kitchens complete with all the utensils were said to teach children the elements of housewifery.
  15. 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.
  16. (mathematics) An infinitesimal interval of a quantity, a differential.
    The element of area in Cartesian coordinates is dx dy.
  17. (astronomy) An orbital element; one of the parameters needed to uniquely specify a particular orbit.
  19. (computing) One of the conceptual objects in a markup language, usually represented in text by tags.
    • 2011, Richard Wagner, Creating Web Pages All-in-One For Dummies:
      The div element was introduced into HTML as a solution to the layout problem.

Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also

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Verb

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element (third-person singular simple present elements, present participle elementing, simple past and past participle elemented)

  1. (obsolete) To compound of elements.
  2. (obsolete) To constitute and be the elements of.
    • 1658, Izaak Walton, Life of Donne:
      His very soul was elemented of nothing but sadness.
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References

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  • Lehmann, R.G. (2011). "27-30-22-26 - How many letters needs an alphabet?". In de Voogt, A.; Quack, J.F. The Idea of Writing: Writing Across Borders. Brill. pp. 15–16, note 8.
  1. ^ International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (2014). "chemical element". Compendium of Chemical Terminology Internet edition.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Catalan

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin elementum.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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element m (plural elements)

  1. element, a component part of a thing
  2. (plural) fundamental principles or simpler notions of a knowledge system
  3. (plural) set of natural forces (the weather, the sea, etc)
  4. (chemistry) element, a simple substance that cannot be broken down into others by chemical methods
  5. (biology) the environment in which a being lives
    (idiomatic) trobar-se algú en el seu element ― to be somebody in the situation that best suits their tastes or abilities (an idiom, literally to be in one's element)
  6. (math) element, an object that belongs to a set
  7. (pejorative) a person, an individual

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Crimean Tatar

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Etymology

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From Latin elementum.

Noun

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element

  1. element.

Declension

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Declension of element
nominative element
genitive elementniñ
dative elementke
accusative elementni
locative elementte
ablative elementten

References

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  • Mirjejev, V. A., Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎[3], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

Czech

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Czech Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia cs

Etymology

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Inherited from Old Czech element, from Latin elementum.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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element m inan

  1. 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)
    1. element (one of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists: water, earth, fire, and air)
  2. elementary (basic knowledge or fact)
  3. (literary) element (small part of the whole)
  4. (physics) galvanic cell

Declension

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Declension of element (hard masculine inanimate)
singular plural
nominative element elementy
genitive elementu elementů
dative elementu elementům
accusative element elementy
vocative elemente elementy
locative elementu elementech
instrumental elementem elementy

Further reading

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  • “element”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
  • “element”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
  • “element”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech)

Danish

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Noun

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element n (singular definite elementet, plural indefinite elementer)

  1. (set theory) element

Declension

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Declension of element
neuter
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative element elementet elementer elementerne
genitive elements elementets elementers elementernes

References

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Dutch

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Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

Etymology

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From Middle Dutch element, from Old French element, from Latin elementum (“a first principle, element, rudiment”), of uncertain origin (see further etymology there).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˌeː.ləˈmɛnt/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: ele‧ment
  • Rhymes: -ɛnt

Noun

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element n (plural elementen, diminutive elementje n)

  1. element
  2. (chemistry) element
  3. (set theory) element
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Descendants

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  • → Indonesian: elemen

Anagrams

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Kashubian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Polish element.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ɛˈlɛ.mɛnt/
  • Rhymes: -ɛmɛnt
  • Syllabification: e‧le‧ment

Noun

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element m inan

  1. element (small part of the whole)

Further reading

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  • Jan Trepczyk (1994) “element”, in Słownik polsko-kaszubski (in Kashubian), volumes 1–2
  • Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “element”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎[4]

Norwegian Bokmål

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Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology

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From Latin elementum.

Noun

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element n (definite singular elementet, indefinite plural element or elementer, definite plural elementa or elementene)

  1. an element

References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Etymology

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From Latin elementum.

Noun

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element n (definite singular elementet, indefinite plural element, definite plural elementa)

  1. an element

References

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Old Czech

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Latin elementum.[1]

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): (13th CE) /ˈɛlɛmɛnt/
  • IPA(key): (15th CE) /ˈɛlɛmɛnt/

Noun

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element m inan

  1. element (one of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists: water, earth, fire, and air)

Declension

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Declension of element (hard o-stem)
singular dual plural
nominative element elementy elementi, elementové
genitive elementa, elementu elementú elementóv
dative elementu elementoma elementóm
accusative element elementy elementy
vocative elemente elementy elementi, elementové
locative elementě, elementu elementú elementiech
instrumental elementem elementoma elementy
This table shows the most common forms around the 13th century.
See also Appendix:Old Czech nouns and Appendix:Old Czech pronunciation.

Descendants

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References

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  1. ^ Rejzek, Jiří (2015) “element”, in Český etymologický slovník [Czech Etymological Dictionary] (in Czech), 3rd (revised and expanded) edition, Praha: LEDA, →ISBN

Old Polish

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Latin elementum.[1][2][3][4][5] First attested in the middle of the 15th century.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): (10th–15th CE) /ɛlʲɛ(ː)mɛ(ː)nt/
  • IPA(key): (15th CE) /ɛlʲɛmɛnt/, /ɛlʲement/

Noun

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element m animacy unattested

  1. element (one of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists: water, earth, fire, and air)
    • Middle of the 15th century, Rozmyślanie o żywocie Pana Jezusa‎[5], page 5:
      Czthyrzy zyvyoly... albo alymenta szą od czyebye stvorzony (elementa quatuor a te sunt creata), ymysz ma bycz zyvo wschystko stvorzenye. To sa ta czvsch ozm ozm alymenta: ogyen, zyemya, vylkoscz y povyetrze
      [Cztyrzy żywioły... albo alimenta są od Ciebie stworzony (elementa quatuor a Te sunt creata), imiż ma być żywo wszystko stworzenie, to są, toczusz alimenta: ogień, ziemia, wilkość i powietrze]

Descendants

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References

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  1. ^ Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000) “element”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
  2. ^ Mirosław Bańko, Lidia Wiśniakowska (2021) “element”, in Wielki słownik wyrazów obcych, →ISBN
  3. ^ Stanisław Dubisz, editor (2003), “element”, in Uniwersalny słownik języka polskiego [Universal dictionary of the Polish language]‎[1] (in Polish), volumes 1-4, Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN SA, →ISBN
  4. ^ Witold Doroszewski, editor (1958–1969), “element”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), Warszawa: PWN
  5. ^ Krystyna Długosz-Kurczabowa (2021) “element”, in Wielki słownik etymologiczno-historyczny języka polskiego, →ISBN
  • B. Sieradzka-Baziur, Ewa Deptuchowa, Joanna Duska, Mariusz Frodyma, Beata Hejmo, Dorota Janeczko, Katarzyna Jasińska, Krystyna Kajtoch, Joanna Kozioł, Marian Kucała, Dorota Mika, Gabriela Niemiec, Urszula Poprawska, Elżbieta Supranowicz, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, Piotr Szpor, Bartłomiej Borek, editors (2011–2015), “element”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

Old Slovak

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Latin elementum.[1]

Noun

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element m inan

  1. element (basic substance)
  2. element (one of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists: water, earth, fire, and air)

Descendants

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References

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  1. ^ Králik, Ľubor (2016) “element”, in Stručný etymologický slovník slovenčiny [Concise Etymological Dictionary of Slovak] (in Slovak), Bratislava: VEDA; JÚĽŠ SAV, →ISBN, page 145
  • Majtán, Milan et al., editors (1991–2008), “element”, in Historický slovník slovenského jazyka [Historical Dictionary of the Slovak Language] (in Slovak), volumes 1–7 (A – Ž), Bratislava: VEDA, →OCLC

Polish

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Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology

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Inherited from Old Polish element.

Pronunciation

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  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛmɛnt
  • Syllabification: e‧le‧ment

Noun

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element m inan (diminutive elemencik)

  1. element (small part of the whole)
  2. member; dregs (person or group with negative traits)
    Wieczorami w knajpie zbierał się podejrzany element. ― In the evenings, a suspicious group congregated in the pub.
  3. element (one of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists: water, earth, fire, and air)
    Synonym: żywioł
  4. (mathematics) element (infinitesimal interval of a quantity, a differential)
  5. (in the plural) elements (basic principles of a field of knowledge, basics, fundamentals, rudiments)
    Synonym: podstawy
  6. (obsolete, chemistry) element (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)
    Synonym: pierwiastek
  7. (Middle Polish) substance
    Synonym: substancja

Declension

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Declension of element
singular plural
nominative element elementy
genitive elementu elementów
dative elementowi elementom
accusative element elementy
instrumental elementem elementami
locative elemencie elementach
vocative elemencie elementy

Trivia

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According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), element is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 49 times in scientific texts, 12 times in news, 44 times in essays, 6 times in fiction, and 0 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 111 times, making it the 549th most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.[1]

References

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  1. ^ Ida Kurcz (1990) “element”, in Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej [Frequency dictionary of the Polish language] (in Polish), volume 1, Kraków, Warszawa: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Języka Polskiego, page 111

Further reading

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  • element in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • element in Polish dictionaries at PWN
  • Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “element”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
  • “ELEMENT”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 23.10.2012
  • Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “element”, in Słownik języka polskiego
  • Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “element”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
  • J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “element”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 689
  • element in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego

Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French élément, from Latin elementum.

Noun

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element n (plural elemente)

  1. element

Declension

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singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative-accusative element elementul elemente elementele
genitive-dative element elementului elemente elementelor
vocative elementule elementelor

Serbo-Croatian

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /elěment/
  • Hyphenation: e‧le‧ment

Noun

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elèment m (Cyrillic spelling елѐмент)

  1. element

Declension

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Declension of element
singular plural
nominative elèment elementi
genitive elementa elèmenātā
dative elementu elementima
accusative element elemente
vocative elemente elementi
locative elementu elementima
instrumental elementom elementima

Slovak

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Slovak Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sk

Etymology

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Inherited from Old Slovak element, from Latin elementum.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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element m inan

  1. element (small part of the whole)
  2. element (one of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists: water, earth, fire, and air)
  3. (chemistry) element (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)
  4. element (factor, one of the conditions contributing to a result)
  5. (engineering) A simple machine component occurring separately or as a whole on various devices.

Declension

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Declension of element (pattern dub)
singularplural
nominativeelementelementy
genitiveelementuelementov
dativeelementuelementom
accusativeelementelementy
locativeelementeelementoch
instrumentalelementomelementmi

Noun

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element m animal or m pers

  1. member; dregs (person or group with negative traits)

Declension

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Declension of element (patterns chlap (singular, plural 2) and dub (plural 1))
singularplural 1plural 2
nominativeelementelementyelementi
genitiveelementaelementovelementov
dativeelementovi,
elementu		elementomelementom
accusativeelementaelementyelementov
locativeelementovi,
elementu		elementochelementoch
instrumentalelementomelementmielementmi

Further reading

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  • “element”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2024

Swedish

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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element n

  1. element; basic building block of matter in ancient philosophy
  2. element; a place or state of being that an individual or object is better suited towards
  3. elements; forces of weather
  4. element; an object in a set
  5. (mathematics) element of a matrix
  6. heating element, radiator
  7. (computing) element; object in markup language

Declension

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Declension of element
nominative genitive
singular indefinite element elements
definite elementet elementets
plural indefinite element elements
definite elementen elementens
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Turkish

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Etymology

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From Latin elementum. Doublet of eleman.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /eleˈmænt/
  • Hyphenation: e‧le‧ment

Noun

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element (definite accusative elementi, plural elementler)

  1. (chemistry) element

Declension

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Inflection
Nominative element
Definite accusative elementi
Singular Plural
Nominative element elementler
Definite accusative elementi elementleri
Dative elemente elementlere
Locative elementte elementlerde
Ablative elementten elementlerden
Genitive elementin elementlerin
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