Word Study
elementary
CIDE DICTIONARY
elementary, a. [L. elementarius: cf. F. élémentaire.].
- Having only one principle or constituent part; consisting of a single element; simple; uncompounded; as, an elementary substance. [1913 Webster]
- Pertaining to, or treating of, the elements, rudiments, or first principles of anything; initial; rudimental; introductory; as, an elementary treatise. [1913 Webster]
- Pertaining to one of the four elements, air, water, earth, fire. J. Spencer. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
elementary, adj.
1 a dealing with or arising from the simplest facts of a subject; rudimentary, introductory. b simple.
2 Chem. not decomposable.
1 a dealing with or arising from the simplest facts of a subject; rudimentary, introductory. b simple.
2 Chem. not decomposable.
Idiom
elementary particle Physics any of several subatomic particles supposedly not decomposable into simpler ones. elementary school a school in which elementary subjects are taught to young children.
Derivative
elementarily adv. elementariness n.
Etymology
ME f. L elementarius (as ELEMENT)
THESAURUS
elementary
ab ovo, abecedarian, aboriginal, acid, alkali, antenatal, austere, autochthonous, bare, basal, basic, basilar, beginning, biochemical, budding, central, chaste, chemical, chemicobiological, chemicoengineering, chemicomineralogical, chemicophysical, chemurgic, clear, component, constituent, constitutive, copolymeric, copolymerous, creative, crucial, dimeric, dimerous, easy, electrochemical, elemental, embryonic, essential, fetal, formative, foundational, fundamental, generative, genetic, germinal, gestatory, gut, heteromerous, homely, homespun, homogeneous, in embryo, in its infancy, in ovo, in the bud, inaugural, inceptive, inchoate, inchoative, incipient, incunabular, indivisible, infant, infantile, initial, initiative, initiatory, integral, integrant, introductory, inventive, irreducible, isomerous, macrochemical, material, mere, metameric, monolithic, monomerous, nascent, natal, nonacid, of a piece, of the essence, original, parturient, photochemical, physicochemical, phytochemical, plain, polymeric, postnatal, prefatory, pregnant, preliminary, prenatal, primal, primary, prime, primeval, primitive, primogenial, primordial, pristine, procreative, protogenic, pure, pure and simple, radical, radiochemical, rude, rudimental, rudimentary, seminal, severe, simon-pure, simple, single, spare, stark, straightforward, substantial, substantive, thermochemical, unadorned, uncluttered, uncomplicated, underlying, understandable, undifferenced, undifferentiated, uniform, unsubtle, urROGET THESAURUS
elementary
Simpleness
N simpleness, purity, homogeneity, elimination, sifting, purification, simple, uniform, of a piece, homogeneous, single, pure, sheer, neat, unmixed, unmingled, unblended, uncombined, uncompounded, elementary, undecomposed, unadulterated, unsophisticated, unalloyed, untinged, unfortified, pur et simple, incomplex, free from, exempt from, exclusive, simple, only.For further exploring for "elementary" in Webster Dictionary Online