elements

1. violent or severe weather (viewed as caused by the action of the four elements)Examples: "they felt the full fury of the elements"Synonyms: elements

2. an abstract part of somethingExamples: "jealousy was a component of his character"; "two constituents of a musical composition are melody and harmony"; "the grammatical elements of a sentence"Synonyms: component, constituent, element, factor, ingredient

3. an artifact that is one of the individual parts of which a composite entity is made up; especially a part that can be separated from or attached to a systemExamples: "spare components for cars"; "a component or constituent element of a system"Synonyms: component, constituent, element

4. any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matterSynonyms: chemical element, element

5. the most favorable environment for a plant or animalExamples: "water is the element of fishes"Synonyms: element

6. one of four substances thought in ancient and medieval cosmology to constitute the physical universeExamples: "the alchemists believed that there were four elements"Synonyms: element