1A part or aspect of something abstract, especially one that is essential or characteristic.

1. 1.1 A small but significant presence of a feeling or abstract quality.
   it was the element of danger he loved in flying

   Example sentencesExamples

   • A different kind at each school is recommended, and the element of danger at enrolment time will lend an aphrodisiacal quality to the proceedings.
   • Protocols have been established, so there's a significant element of confidence when we go into humans.
   • These qualities inject an element of interactivity in good drawings.
   • My problem is the majority of the blog posts I write with a certain amount/an element of tongue in cheek.
   • It was a dialogue - based work with a significant element of psychology.

   Synonyms

   trace, touch, hint, smattering, suspicion, soupçon
2. 1.2elements The rudiments of a branch of knowledge.
   legal training may include the elements of economics and political science

   Example sentencesExamples

   • And, I think that would be the best pedagogical introduction, to the elements of the subject-matter.
   • He wrote a textbook as a consequence of the lecture courses he taught, publishing Lectures on the elements of applied mechanics in 1877.
   • At the time when these papers were written he had received no instruction in mathematics beyond a few books of Euclid and the merest elements of algebra.
   • The book contained the elements of geometry and algebra in addition to the calculus.

   Synonyms

   basics, essentials, principles, first principles
3. 1.3often elementsusually with modifier A group of people of a particular kind within a larger group or organization.
   extreme right-wing elements in the army

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Such benefits aside, however, elements of the church have taken aim at several Fox programs.
   • I find it plausible that the IRA or some rogue elements within the IRA may have been involved.
   • There is an identification of the church of Antioch with those liberal elements present in the contemporaneous Church of England.
   • You're going to have Gore over and over again trying to associate Bush with the rightist right wing elements of his party.
   • While some of these criticisms may be true for the most conservative elements of the Church, most of them have been invalid since the Council of Trent.
   • Then there are those who say he may be being protected by rogue elements within Pakistan's security forces.
   • They pleaded to other religious leaders to handle correctly the extremist elements within their own religious movements.
   • Instead, the president and key elements within the Republican Party have sought to redefine the debate over foreign aid.
   • Pro-business elements within the Liberal Party have groomed Brogden as a future state leader since his early 20s.
   • Is their intent any less racist or repulsive than the extremist elements within Zionism?
   • Muslim leaders in Britain agree that there are extremist elements within their communities but they disagree on how to tackle them.
   • I don't rule out that some rogue elements within, say, one unit might misbehave, but that does not make it at all a policy.
   • There are also plenty of priests who, themselves, want to see the bad elements within the Church excised.
   • He has no doubt elements within British intelligence were involved in the plot that killed 33 people.
   • I do not understand why elements of the Christian church have this agenda to destroy people's lives and happiness, but it does not feel like a Christian attitude to me.
   • The acknowledgement that there are rogue elements within Sinn Féin is in itself significant.
   • Although she did not join any particular party grouping, she generally supported the most right-wing elements within the conservatives.
   • If so, whether it was official French sources or rogue elements within France who did so also is unclear.
   • There has even been speculation that some rogue elements within the British Army tried to sabotage Stevens' light aircraft last year.
   • The issue has divided elements of the United Methodist Church, which sponsors more Scout troops than any other organization.
4. 1.4elements (in church use) the bread and wine of the Eucharist.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • This spiritual authority is often signified by the bodily gestures of the priest while he or she is consecrating the elements while presiding at the Eucharist.
   • Both the consecrated elements and the church simply are the body of Christ.
   • The non-divine, but human-made Eucharistic elements of bread and wine can affect only the material body.
   • It is a sacred meal in which the minister consecrates the elements by asking God to set them apart from their normal and common uses.
   • Spreading the gifts they bring on the table, the deacon leads their acclamations and distributes the consecrated elements.
5. 1.5Logic Mathematics An entity that is a single member of a set.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Its elements are transformed into vectors of another linear space, in which data is assigned.
   • As another generalization, consider the sum of elements in an off-diagonal 2x2 array.
   • So in order to be sure that such a case is not missed, you would need to check all possible combinations of elements in ternary plots - of which there are several thousand!
   • In his talk Steinitz introduced an algebra over the ring of integers whose base elements are isomorphism classes of finite abelian groups.
   • In his doctoral dissertation of 1934 he considered permutation groups whose elements are determined by the images of three points.

2Each of more than one hundred substances that cannot be chemically interconverted or broken down into simpler substances and are primary constituents of matter. Each element is distinguished by its atomic number, i.e. the number of protons in the nuclei of its atoms.

1. 2.1 Any of the four substances (earth, water, air, and fire) regarded as the fundamental constituents of the world in ancient and medieval philosophy.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • It also shows the relative contributions of the four major elements (water, earth, air and fire).
   • To our ancestors, the ancient elements of earth, air, fire and water had profound significance.
   • As a very rough guide, it is often true that people with suns in the same element (earth, water, air, fire) tend to get along more easily.
   • The most amazing thing about Smartville is that it's built in the shape of a cross, with each wing named after one of the four elements - air, earth, fire, water.
   • These classes will be structured thematically around the four elements of earth, air, fire and water.
   • As for us and our world, it consisted of the four elements, earth, air, fire, and water.
   • Within the ether all the other four gross elements are present (earth, water, fire and air) in a subtle form.
   • I believe that there are four elements: earth, fire, water, and air.
   • Hippocrates believed that the essence of matter was found in the four primary elements: Fire, Water, Air and Earth.
   • In healing I focus the energy using the elements: fire water, air and earth.
   • The elements of earth, water, air and fire would predominate in the respective masses, making them identifiable as such.
   • It was a story he recognised could only be told in terms of the four fundamental elements: earth, air, fire, water.
   • She controlled the four master elements: Fire, Water, Earth and Air.
   • These numbered cards represent the elements of earth, air, fire and water, and usually deal with specific issues and courses of action.
   • The one thing that is true, and which you have obviously understood, is that each of the sun signs belongs to a particular element - fire, earth, air or water.
   • Densely rendered layers of pastel, mud and paint are applied to surfaces with images referencing the elements of fire, water, air and earth.
   • In the old world they used to talk about the four elements: earth, air, fire and water.
   • Alchemists believed that matter was made up of a mixture of Aristotle's elements: fire, earth, water and air.
   • She looked like she was bending the elements: fire, water, earth, and air.
   • Everything was made up of the four elements of earth, water, fire and air, and their linked qualities of cold, wet, hot and dry.
2. 2.2 A person's or animal's natural or preferred environment.
   he was raised in Hawaii and the sea is his natural element

   Example sentencesExamples

   • He used to sit in the pub in Greek Street, next to our office, surrounded by admirers, and he was in his element.
   • And as such I was in my element at this big screen version of the 70s crime buster series.
   • According to the publican, the pub business was a highly lucrative trade at that time and Chris was in his element behind his popular bar.
   • Even so, Mr Galloway was in his element, playing the role he relishes the most: the little guy squaring up for a fight with the establishment.
   • Larkham was in his element in his country's victory over Romania as he constantly probed for breaks against a brittle defence.
   • And he was in his element in the amusements, gambling away his pocket money on the slot machines and cascades.
   • Any place where politics were discussed, Gerald was in his element.
   • As a self confessed car nut I was in my element examining pictures of Formula 1 cars and drivers, rally cars, scale models, trucks and bikes.
   • Feisty and fizzing with energy, the 40 year-old multi-millionaire was in his element, playing the fool for a BBC film crew following his every move.
   • I do believe he was in his element last night as a country singer, but his performance just really annoyed me.
   • But once Jeanette took to the open road, she was in her element.
   • The latter was one of her best pictures, and she was in her element as a fastidious, slightly cruel and watchful woman, trying to keep control of life.
   • The man couldn't be offensive even if he tried and once the conversation centred around greyhounds and horses the genial Caseyville man was in his element.
   • After the storm, the quiet man was in his element.
   • Ryan was in his element, making yards with his low driving style, and with the rest of the pack adding their contributions further scores were bound to come.
   • The dynamic lass is in her element working at the airport as part of her third year of a four-year engineering apprenticeship with Stockport Engineering Training Centre.
   • And when it came to the children themselves, she was in her element.
   • During the initial question time, Worth was in his element.
   • ‘There were 200 people around him and a helicopter overhead, and we felt he was in his element,’ he said.
   • She was in her element and it quickly became apparent she had abilities that were invaluable in pressing for improvements for the people.

   Synonyms

   natural environment, favoured environment, familiar territory, territory, habitat, medium, milieu, sphere, field, domain, realm, circle, resort, haunt

3the elementsThe weather, especially strong winds, heavy rain, and other kinds of bad weather.

4A part in an electric teapot, heater, or stove that contains a wire through which an electric current is passed to provide heat.