elemental

English

Etymology

From Middle English elementall, from Medieval Latin elementālis; compare Old French elementel.[1][2] By surface analysis, element +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /(ˌ)ɛləˈmɛntəl/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛntəl
  • Hyphenation: el‧e‧men‧tal

Adjective

elemental (not comparable)

  1. (chemistry) Of, relating to, or being an element (as opposed to a compound).
  2. Basic, fundamental or elementary.
    • 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 219:
      Those who have escaped the dark and terrible aspects of life will find my brutality, my flash of rage in our final tragedy, easy enough to blame; for they know what is wrong as well as any, but not what is possible to tortured men. But those who have been under the shadow, who have gone down at last to elemental things, will have a wider charity.
    • 2000, Joseph J. Ellis, Founding Brothers, New York: Vintage Books, pages 79–80:
      The pervasive emptiness and stultifying summer heat were only minor deterrents when compared with the more elemental consideration that all the banking and commercial institutions were based elsewhere, chiefly in Philadelphia and New York.
  3. Of the ancient supposed elements of earth, air, fire and water.
    • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 216:
      Seth is the embodiment of mother-right, warfare, terror, human sacrifice; he is an elemental deity who deals in the fundamental reality of blood.
  4. (by extension) Of, or relating to a force of nature, especially to severe atmospheric conditions.
  5. (figuratively) Comparable to a force of nature; sudden and unpredictable.
    • 1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 396, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in Polish):
      Lenin, of course, was not a 'Blanquist' in the sense of envisaging a coup d'état which a small group of conspirators, properly prepared, could carry out at any moment. He realized that revolutions were elemental occurrences that could not be planned or produced at will.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

elemental (plural elementals)

  1. (mysticism, fantasy) A creature (usually a spirit) that is attuned with, or composed of, one of the classical elements: air, earth, fire and water or variations of them like ice, lightning, etc. They sometimes have unique proper names and sometimes are referred to as Air, Earth, Fire, or Water.
    • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 115:
      Incidentally, such beings may be said to have an existence of a sort upon the lower astral plane; they are elementals created by man's evil desires and unclean thoughts.
    • 1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 39:
      This time they got into print, all right. But the much-handled stories, written up with that blend of cautiously defensive frivolity which the press habitually employed to cover themselves in matters regarding sea-serpents, elementals, thought transference, and other irregular phenomena, prevented anyone from realizing that these accomplished plants at all resembled the quiet, respectable weed beside our rubbish heap.

Hyponyms

Translations

References

  1. ^ “elementāl, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “elemental (adj.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Catalan

Etymology

    From element +‎ -al.

    Pronunciation

    Adjective

    elemental m or f (masculine and feminine plural elementals)

    1. elemental

    Noun

    elemental m (plural elementals)

    1. (alchemy, folklore, mythology) elemental

    Hyponyms

    Further reading

    Spanish

    Etymology

    Etymology tree
    Latin elementumlbor.
    Spanish elemento
    Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-
    Proto-Indo-European *-is
    Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?
    Proto-Italic *-ālis
    Latin -ālis
    Spanish -al
    Spanish elemental

      From elemento + -al.

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /elemenˈtal/ [e.le.mẽn̪ˈt̪al]
      • Rhymes: -al
      • Syllabification: e‧le‧men‧tal

      Adjective

      elemental m or f (masculine and feminine plural elementales)

      1. elemental
        Alternative form: elementar (obsolete)

      Derived terms

      Noun

      elemental m (plural elementales)

      1. (alchemy, folklore, mythology) elemental

      Hyponyms

      Further reading

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