elementary

English Online Dictionary. What means elementary‎? What does elementary mean?

English

Alternative forms

• elementar (obsolete)
• elem (Philippines)

Etymology

From Latin elementārius (“elementary”), from elementum (“one of the four elements of antiquity; fundamentals”) + -ārius (adjective-forming suffix). Cognate with French élémentaire.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /(ˌ)ɛlɪˈmɛnt(ə)ɹɪ/
• (General American) enPR: ĕl'ĭ-mĕn′tə-rē, -trē, IPA^(key): /ˌɛlɪˈmɛnt(ə)ɹi/
• Rhymes: -ɛntəɹi, -ɛntɹi
• Hyphenation: el‧e‧men‧ta‧ry

Adjective

elementary (comparative more elementary, superlative most elementary)

1. Relating to the basic, essential or fundamental part of something.
2. Very simple.
3. Relating to an elementary school.
4. (sciences) Fundamental: serving as a building block for more complicated structures or processes.
   1. (physics) Relating to a subatomic particle.
   2. (chemistry, of a reaction) Involving only a single reaction step and transition state.
   3. (mathematics, of a square matrix) Which performs a row or column operation on another matrix when the two are multiplied; see Elementary matrix on Wikipedia.Wikipedia (Such matrices are called "elementary" because they generate the general linear group).
   4. (mathematics, of a symmetric polynomial) Arising from Vieta's formulas; see Elementary symmetric polynomial on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
5. (mathematics, of an argument or proof) Straightforward, employing only basic techniques; not requiring substantial knowledge (of some particular domain, object, etc.).
   1. (number theory, of an argument or proof, mostly historical outside the phrase "Elementary number theory") Making no use of complex analysis.
6. (archaic) Sublunary; not celestial; belonging to the sublunary sphere, to which the four classical elements (earth, air, fire and water) were confined; composed of or pertaining to these four elements.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

elementary (plural elementaries)

1. An elementary school.

2. (mythology, mysticism) A supernatural being associated with the elements.

References

• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “elementary”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.