Elemental

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /(ˌ)ɛləˈmɛntəl/

Definitions

1. Relating to the most basic, essential, or fundamental aspects of something; simple and powerful in nature
2. Concerning the primary and essential characteristics that define a substance or concept
3. Connected to the most basic parts or essential features of something, often implying simplicity and power

Etymology: "Elemental" carries the sense of the ancient idea of the four elements of matter, but its Latin ancestor, "elementum," originally meant something like a letter of the alphabet or a basic building block of anything at all. The Latin adjective "elementaris" and its Medieval Latin descendant "elementalis" then gave English a word for whatever belongs to such first principles. Middle English borrowed the form in the form "elementall," and Old French had a parallel "elementel," so the word arrived in English along a path shared with French. The word is built plainly from "element" with the adjective suffix "-al," which is why its meaning stays close to the noun. Once "element" came to name the fundamental substances of the natural world, "elemental" naturally took on the idea of being basic in nature, and later of primal forces such as wind, fire, water and earth.

Synonyms: fundamental, basic, primary, primal, essential