Adjacent Words

elementary definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: 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" [syn: elementary, simple, uncomplicated, unproblematic]
2: of or pertaining to or characteristic of elementary school or elementary education; "the elementary grades"; "elementary teachers"
3: of or being the essential or basic part; "an elementary need for love and nurturing" [syn: elementary, elemental, primary]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 14th century 1. a. of, relating to, or dealing with the simplest elements or principles of something <an elementary course> b. of or relating to an elementary school <an elementary curriculum> 2. elemental 1a, b 3. elemental 2 • elementarily adverb • elementariness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 a dealing with or arising from the simplest facts of a subject; rudimentary, introductory. b simple. 2 Chem. not decomposable. Phrases and idioms: 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. Derivatives: elementarily adv. elementariness n. Etymology: ME f. L elementarius (as ELEMENT)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Elementary El`e*men"ta*ry, a. [L. elementarius: cf. F. ['e]l['e]mentaire.] 1. Having only one principle or constituent part; consisting of a single element; simple; uncompounded; as, an elementary substance. 2. Pertaining to, or treating of, the elements, rudiments, or first principles of anything; initial; rudimental; introductory; as, an elementary treatise. 3. Pertaining to one of the four elements, air, water, earth, fire. ``Some luminous and fiery impressions in the elementary region.'' --J. Spencer.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Something that is elementary is very simple and basic. ...elementary computer skills. = basic ADJ: usu ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Simple, uncompounded. 2. Rudimentary, rudimental, primary.

Moby Thesaurus

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, ur