elemental en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /(ˌ)ɛləˈmɛntəl/
- (US) audio
Etymology
From Middle English elementall, from Medieval Latin elementālis; compare Old French elementel. By surface analysis, element + -al.
Meanings
- (not-comparable) Of, relating to, or being an element (as opposed to a compound).
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(not-comparable) Basic, fundamental or elementary.
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.
2000, Joseph J. Ellis, Founding Brothers, New York: Vintage Books, pages 79–80: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.
1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 219:
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(not-comparable) Of the ancient supposed elements of earth, air, fire and water.
Seth is the embodiment of mother-right, warfare, terror, human sacrifice; he is an elemental deity who deals in the fundamental reality of blood.
1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 216:
- (broadly, not-comparable) Of, or relating to a force of nature, especially to severe atmospheric conditions.
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(figuratively, not-comparable) Comparable to a force of nature; sudden and unpredictable.
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.
1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 396:
Deriveds
nonelemental · elementally · multielemental · unelemental · bioelemental · bielemental · elemental magic · elementality · monoelemental · trielemental · elementalism · dielemental · elementalize · omnielemental
Translations (12)
ms unsur (relating to a chemical element, as opposed to a compound) · bg стихиен (relating to forces of nature) · ms elemen (relating to a chemical element, as opposed to a compound) · ms keunsuran (relating to a chemical element, as opposed to a compound) · ca elemental (relating to a chemical element, as opposed to a compound) · es elemental (relating to a chemical element, as opposed to a compound) · ms unsuri (relating to a chemical element, as opposed to a compound) · es elemental (relating to forces of nature) · es elemental (of the elements of earth, air, fire and water) · ca elemental (of the elements of earth, air, fire and water) · es elemental (basic, fundamental, elementary) · bg елементарен (relating to a chemical element, as opposed to a compound)