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"element" in seven languages

Meaningelement

Spanish

elemento

/eleˈmento/

masc.learned

French

élément

/elemɑ̃/

masc.learned

Italian

elemento

/eleˈmento/

masc.learned

Portuguese

elemento

/eleˈmẽtu/

masc.learned

Romanian

element

/eleˈment/

neut.learned

Catalan

element

/ələˈmen/

masc.learned

English

element

/ˈɛləmənt/

from Latin/French · Old French element, from Latin ELEMENTUM

English → ItalianelementelementoCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

ELEMENTUM‘first principle; letter of the alphabet’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

A book word in all four languages, so it looks almost identical everywhere. In Latin the plural ELEMENTA meant the basics of anything — the ABC of a subject — which is still the sense of 'elementary'.

English relatives: elementary, elemental

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esEl agua es un elemento esencial.
  • frL'eau est un élément essentiel.
  • itL'acqua è un elemento essenziale.
  • ptA água é um elemento essencial.
  • roApa este un element esențial.
  • caL'aigua és un element essencial.
  • enWater is an essential element.

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