elemental

English

Etymology

element +‎ -al

Pronunciation

• 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.

Derived terms

• omnielemental

Translations

relating to a chemical element, as opposed to a compound

• Bulgarian: елементарен (bg) (elementaren)
• Catalan: elemental (ca)
• Malay: unsur (ms), keunsuran, unsuri, elemen (ms)

basic, fundamental, elementary — see elementary

of the elements of earth, air, fire and water

• Catalan: elemental (ca)

relating to forces of nature

• Bulgarian: стихиен (bg) (stihien)

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.

Hyponyms

• gnome (earth)
• salamander (fire)
• sylph (air)
• undine (water)

 

Translations

fantastic creature

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 元素 (zh) (yuánsù)

• Finnish: elementaali
• French: élémental (fr) m, élémentaire (fr) m
• Polish: żywiołak m
• Russian: элемента́ль (ru) m (elementálʹ)
• Spanish: elemental (es) m or f
• Swedish: elementarande (sv) c

Catalan

Etymology

From element +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ə.lə.mənˈtal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [e.le.menˈtal]

Adjective

elemental m or f (masculine and feminine plural elementals)

1. elemental

Noun

elemental m (plural elementals)

1. (alchemy, folklore, mythology) elemental

Hyponyms

• gnom (“gnome”) (earth)
• ondina (“undine”) (water)
• salamandra (“salamander”) (fire)
• sílfide (“sylph”) (air)

 

Further reading

• “elemental” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “elemental”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “elemental” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “elemental” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Spanish

Etymology

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

Derived terms

• elementalidad
• elementalmente
• función elemental
• partícula elemental

 

Noun

elemental m (plural elementales)

1. (alchemy, folklore, mythology) elemental

Hyponyms

• gnomo (“gnome”) (earth)
• ondina (“undine”) (water)
• salamandra (“salamander”) (fire)
• sílfide (“sylph”) (air)

 

Further reading

• “elemental”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014