elementary

pertaining to elements, or first principles: elementary grammar; simple, easy facts: It’s elementary, Dr. Watson.

Not to be confused with:

alimentary – relating to food or nutrition: alimentary canal

el·e·men·ta·ry

(ĕl′ə-mĕn′tə-rē, -trē)

adj.

1. Of, relating to, or constituting the basic, essential, or fundamental part: an elementary need for love and nurturing.

2. Of, relating to, or involving the fundamental or simplest aspects of a subject: an elementary problem in statistics.

3. Of or relating to an elementary school or elementary education: the elementary grades; elementary teachers.

el′e·men·ta′ri·ly (-tĕr′ə-lē) adv.

el′e·men′ta·ri·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

elementary

(ˌɛlɪˈmɛntərɪ; -trɪ)

adj

1. not difficult; simple; rudimentary

2. of or concerned with the first principles of a subject; introductory or fundamental

3. (Mathematics) maths (of a function) having the form of an algebraic, exponential, trigonometric, or a logarithmic function, or any combination of these

4. (Elements & Compounds) chem another word for elemental⁵

ˌeleˈmentarily adv

ˌeleˈmentariness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

el•e•men•ta•ry

(ˌɛl əˈmɛn tə ri, -tri)

adj.

1. pertaining to rudiments or first principles.

2. of or pertaining to an elementary school.

3. of the nature of an ultimate constituent; simple or uncompounded: an elementary part of matter.

4. pertaining to the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water, or to the great forces of nature.

[1400–50; (< Middle French) < Latin]

el`e•men•tar′i•ly (-ˈtɛr ə li) adv.

el`e•men′ta•ri•ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.	1.	elementary - easy and not involved or complicated; "an elementary problem in statistics"; "elementary, my dear Watson"; "a simple game"; "found an uncomplicated solution to the problem" unproblematic, simple, uncomplicated easy - posing no difficulty; requiring little effort; "an easy job"; "an easy problem"; "an easy victory"; "the house is easy to heat"; "satisfied with easy answers"; "took the easy way out of his dilemma"
	2.	elementary - of or pertaining to or characteristic of elementary school or elementary education; "the elementary grades"; "elementary teachers"
	3.	elementary - of or being the essential or basic part; "an elementary need for love and nurturing" elemental, primary basic - pertaining to or constituting a base or basis; "a basic fact"; "the basic ingredients"; "basic changes in public opinion occur because of changes in priorities"

elementary

adjective

1. basic, essential, primary, initial, fundamental, introductory, preparatory, rudimentary, elemental, bog-standard (informal) Literacy now includes elementary computer skills.
basic higher, advanced, secondary, progressive, highly-developed

2. simple, clear, easy, plain, straightforward, rudimentary, uncomplicated, facile, undemanding, unexacting elementary questions designed to test numeracy
simple complex, complicated, sophisticated

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

elementary

adjective

1. Of or being an irreducible element:

basic, elemental, essential, fundamental, primitive, ultimate, underlying.

2. Of or treating the most basic aspects:

basal, basic, beginning, rudimental, rudimentary.

Translations

أساسي، إبْتِدائي

elementærgrund-grundlæggendebasal

elemi

undirstöîu-

elementare

elementært

elementarnaelementarneelementarny

elementar

elementárny

osnoven

basit

初级的

elementary

[ˌelɪˈmentərɪ]

A. ADJ

1. (= basic) [idea, precautions, rules] → elemental, básico
elementary politeness requires that → la cortesía más elemental requiere que ...
elementary, my dear Watson! → ¡elemental, querido Watson!

2. (= introductory) [maths, level, exercises] → elemental, básico
elementary reading and writing skills → habilidades fpl de lectura y escritura básicas

B. CPD elementary education N (US) → enseñanza f primaria
elementary particle N → partícula f elemental
elementary school N (US) → escuela f de enseñanza primaria
elementary student N (US) → alumno/a m/f de (la escuela) primaria
elementary teacher N (US) → maestro/a m/f de (enseñanza) primaria

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

elementary

[ˌɛlɪˈmɛntəri] adj

(= basic) → élémentaire

[school, education] → primaireelementary education n (US) → enseignement m primaireelementary school n (US) (= primary school) → école f primaireelementary teacher n (US) → professeur mf des écoles, instituteur/trice m/f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

elementary

adj

(= simple) rules → einfach, elementar; (= basic) idea, fact, precautions → grundlegend; a few elementary rules → einige Grundregeln; sometimes the cause is quite elementary → manchmal ist die Ursache ganz einfach or simpel; elementary mistake → Grundfehler m, → grober Fehler; elementary, my dear Watson → elementar, lieber Watson

(pej: = rudimentary) → primitiv; his acting is about as elementary as you can get → primitiver als er kann man gar nicht spielen

(Sch) level → elementar; elementary skills/knowledge → Grundkenntnisse pl; elementary reading and writing → Grundkenntnisse pl → im Lesen und Schreiben; elementary computer skills → grundlegende Computerkenntnisse pl; elementary maths → Elementarmathematik f; a rather elementary knowledge of science → einige Grundkenntnisse in Naturwissenschaften

elementary

elementary education

n → Grundschulbildung f

elementary particle

n (Phys) → Elementarteilchen nt

elementary particle physics

n (Phys) → Elementarteilchenphysik f

elementary school

n (US: = primary school) → Grundschule f

elementary schooling

n (US) → Grundschulbildung f

elementary student

n (US) → Grundschüler(in) m(f)

elementary teacher

n (US) → Grundschullehrer(in) m(f)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

elementary

[ˌɛlɪˈmɛnt/ərɪ] adj → elementare
elementary physics → i primi rudimenti di fisica

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

element

(ˈeləmənt) noun

1. an essential part of anything. Sound teaching of grammar is one of the elements of a good education.

2. a substance that cannot be split by chemical means into simpler substances. Hydrogen, chlorine, iron and uranium are elements.

3. surroundings necessary for life. Water is a fish's natural element.

4. a slight amount. an element of doubt.

5. the heating part in an electric kettle etc.

ˌeleˈmentary (-ˈmen-) adjective

very simple; not advanced. elementary mathematics.

ˈelements noun plural

1. the first things to be learned in any subject. the elements of musical theory.

2. the forces of nature, as wind and rain.

in one's element

in the surroundings that are most natural or pleasing to one.

elementary

a. elemental; rudimentario-a.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Of this new landscape sense the poetry of Wordsworth is the elementary and central exposition; he is more exclusively occupied with its development than any other poet.

View in context

They satisfied the need seen in its most elementary form in a child, when it wants to have a place rubbed that has been hurt.

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Consequently, Nature herself supplies us with an ascending scale or Alphabet of angles for half a degree up to 60 degrees, Specimens of which are placed in every Elementary School throughout the land.

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A horrid turmoil of mind and body; bursting sobs; broken, vanishing thoughts, now of indignation, now of remorse; broken elementary whiffs of consciousness, of the smell of the horse-hair on the chair bottom, of the jangling of church bells that now began to make day horrible throughout the confines of the city, of the hard floor that bruised his knees, of the taste of tears that found their way into his mouth: for a period of time, the duration of which I cannot guess, while I refuse to dwell longer on its agony, these were the whole of God's world for John Nicholson.

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Casaubon consented to listen and teach for an hour together, like a schoolmaster of little boys, or rather like a lover, to whom a mistress's elementary ignorance and difficulties have a touching fitness.

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He had refused to learn the most elementary things a show-dog should know, and Collins had left him to go over to another part of the arena where a monkey band, on a sort of mimic stage, was being arranged and broken in.

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You know that curious cellular matter which constitutes the elementary tissues of vegetable?

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As the latter have considered the work of the immortal bard as the perfect model from which the principles and rules of the epic art were to be drawn, and by which all similar works were to be judged, so this great political critic appears to have viewed the Constitution of England as the standard, or to use his own expression, as the mirror of political liberty; and to have delivered, in the form of elementary truths, the several characteristic principles of that particular system.

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"Interesting, though elementary," said he as he returned to his favourite corner of the settee.

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For the first time he perceived how elementary his own principles had always been.

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And what are the elementary principles, we may ask, that compose human strength?

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She felt him trying to piece together in a laborious and elementary fashion fragments of belief, unsoldered and separate, lacking the unity of phrases fashioned by the old believers.

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