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elementum

Pronunciation: [ɛ.ɫɛˈmɛn.tũː]

“elementum” is a Latin word. Its 4 meanings in English:

noun

  1. one of four elements that composed the world
  2. basic principle, rudiment
  3. the alphabet
  4. element

In Latin

  1. Quisquam simplicissimarum essentialiumve partium vel principiorum in quo aliquid consistit, aut in quo constitutio vel vis fundamentalis alicuius sunt.
  2. ' → alphabetum, abecedarium
  3. ' Principia, rudimenta, praecipue artium et scientiarum.

Etymology

Uncertain. Perhaps ultimately from L M N, first three letters of the second half of the Canaanite alphabet, recited by ancient scribes when learning it (in sense compare English ABC(s) (“fundamentals”)). This idea has been criticized though due to the absence of any evidence for use of a half-split in the Latin alphabet itself and the lack of evidence for the use of "el", "em", and "en" as letter…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Definitions in Latin are from the Latin Wiktionary, under the same licence.