elementary

Etymology

From Latin elementārius (“elementary”), from elementum (“one of the four elements of antiquity; fundamentals”) + -ārius (adjective-forming suffix). Cognate with French élémentaire.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: el‧e‧men‧ta‧ry

Adjective

elementary (comparative more elementary, superlative most elementary)

1. Relating to the basic, essential or fundamental part of something.
2. Relating to an elementary school.
3. (physics) Relating to a subatomic particle.
   • 2012 March 1, Jeremy Bernstein, “A Palette of Particles”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 2, page 146:

     The physics of elementary particles in the 20th century was distinguished by the observation of particles whose existence had been predicted by theorists sometimes decades earlier.

4. (archaic) Sublunary; not celestial; belonging to the sublunary sphere, to which the four classical elements (earth, air, fire and water) were confined; composed of or pertaining to these four elements.