Elementary

/ˌɛlɪˈmɛntəɹi/ · adjective

Meaning

Relating to the basic, essential or fundamental part of something..

Definitions by Sense

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.
5. (mathematics, of an argument or proof) Straightforward, employing only basic techniques; not requiring substantial knowledge (of some particular domain, object, etc.).
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.
7. (countable and uncountable, informal) Ellipsis of elementary school.
8. (countable, mythology, mysticism) A supernatural being associated with the elements.

Example Sentences

The physics of elementary particles in the 20th century was distinguished by the observation of particles whose existence had been predicted by theorists sometimes decades earlier.

At Lakeside Elementary I learned to appreciate the forest.

He was my dentist. My mom took me to him back in elementary and junior high.

The demon (or elementary) of the South-West wind was particularly dreaded, as being the gini of fever and madness.

[…] the spiritual man is either translated like Enoch and Elias to the higher state, or falls down lower than an elementary again […]

But, in Africa these became definite in their Egyptian Types, by means of which we can follow their development from the elementaries of Chaos and Space into Celestial Intelligencers […]

Synonyms for elementary

Antonyms for elementary

Related Words

Word Forms

• more elementary
• most elementary
• elementar
• elem
• elementaries

Usage Notes

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