El"e*ment (&ebreve;l"&esl;*m&ebreve;nt), v. t. 1. To
compound of elements or first principles.
[Obs.]
"[Love] being
elemented too." Donne.
2. To constitute; to make up with
elements.
His very soul was
elemented of nothing but sadness.
Walton.
El"e*ment (?), n. [F. élément, L. elementum.]
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.
2. 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.
&fist;
The elements are naturally classified in several families or groups, as the group
of the alkaline elements, the
halogen group, and the like.
They are roughly divided into two great classes, the metals,
as sodium, calcium, etc., which form basic compounds, and the nonmetals or metalloids, as oxygen, sulphur, chlorine, which form acid compounds; but the distinction is only relative, and some, as arsenic, tin, aluminium, etc., form both acid and
basic compounds. The essential fact regarding every element is its relative atomic weight or equivalent. When the elements are tabulated in the order of
their ascending atomic weights, the arrangement constitutes the
series of the Periodic law of Mendelejeff. See Periodic law, under Periodic. This Periodic law enables us to predict
the qualities of unknown elements. The number of elements known is about seventy-five, but the
gaps in the Periodic law indicate the possibility of many more. Many of the
elements with which we are familiar, as hydrogen, carbon, iron, gold, etc., have been recognized, by means of spectrum analysis, in the sun and the fixed
stars. From certain evidence (as that afforded by the Periodic law, spectrum analysis, etc.) it appears that the chemical elements probably
may not be simple bodies, but only very stable compounds of some simpler body or bodies. In formulas, the elements are designated by abbreviations of their names in Latin or New Latin.
Several other elements have been announced, as holmium, vesbium, austrium,
etc., but their properties, and in some
cases their existence, have not yet
been definitely
established.
3. 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.
The simplicity which is so large an element in a noble nature was laughed to scorn.
Jowett
(Thucyd.). 4. (a) 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.
(b) (Anat.) One of the
smallest natural divisions of
the organism, as a blood corpuscle, a muscular fiber.
5. (Biol.) One of the simplest essential parts, more commonly called cells, of
which animal and vegetable organisms, or their tissues and organs, are composed.
6. (Math.) (a)
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. (b) 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. (c) One of the terms in
an algebraic expression.
7.
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.
8. pl.
The simplest or fundamental principles of any system in
philosophy, science,
or art; rudiments; as, the elements of geometry, or of music.
9. pl.
Any outline or sketch, regarded as containing the fundamental ideas or features
of the thing in question; as, the elements of a plan.
10. One of
the simple substances, as supposed by the ancient philosophers; one of the imaginary principles of matter. (a)
The four elements were, air, earth, water, and fire; whence it is
said, water is the proper
element of fishes; air is the element of birds. Hence, the state or sphere natural to anything or suited for its existence.
Of elements
The grosser feeds the purer: Earth the Sea;
Earth and the Sea feed Air; the
Air those Fires
Ethereal.
Milton.
Does not our life consist of the four
elements?
Shak. And the complexion of the element [i. e.,the sky or air]
In favor's like the work
we have in hand,
Most bloody, fiery, and most terrible.
Shak.
About twelve
ounces [of food], with mere element for drink.
Cheyne.
They show that they are
out of their element.
T. Baker. Esp., the
conditions and movements of the air. "The elements be kind to thee."
(b) The
elements of the alchemists
were salt, sulphur, and mercury. Brande & C.
11. pl. The whole material composing the world.
The elements shall melt with fervent heat.
2 Peter
iii. 10. 12. pl. (Eccl.) The bread and
wine used in the eucharist or Lord's supper.
Magnetic element,
one of the hypothetical elementary
portions of which a magnet is
regarded as made up.
Hear it pronounced