Meanings
nounchemical element (plural chemical elements)
plural chemical elements
- chemistryA chemical substance made entirely of one such type of atom; any one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction or by any chemical means and made up of atoms all having the same number of protons.
Synonyms: elementary substance, element
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny one of the types of atom distinguished by having a certain number of protons in its nucleus.
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nounA chemical substance made entirely of one such type of atom; any one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction or by any chemical means and made up of atoms all having the same number of protons.
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Broader
More synonyms by meaning
nounany of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter
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Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Arabic عُنْصُر كِيمِيَائِيّ
- عُنْصُر كِيمِيَائِيّ (ʕunṣur kīmiyāʔiyy)any one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Bulgarian химичен елемент
- химичен елемент (himičen element)any one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Catalan element químic
- element químicany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Chinese Mandarin 化學元素 /化学元素
- 化學元素 /化学元素 (huàxué yuánsù)any one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Czech chemický prvek
- chemický prvekany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Danish grundstof
- grundstofany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Dutch chemisch element, scheikundig element
- chemisch elementany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
- scheikundig elementany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Esperanto kemia elemento
- kemia elementoany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Finnish alkuaine
- alkuaineany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
French élément chimique
- élément chimiqueany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
German chemisches Element
- chemisches Elementany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Greek χημικό στοιχείο
- χημικό στοιχείο (chimikó stoicheío)any one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Hebrew יְסוֹד כִּימֵי
- יְסוֹד כִּימֵי (yesód kimí)any one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Hindi रासायनिक तत्व
- रासायनिक तत्व (rāsāyanik tatva)any one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Hungarian kémiai elem
- kémiai elemany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Italian elemento chimico
- elemento chimicoany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Japanese 化学元素
- 化学元素 (kagaku genso)any one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Korean 화학 원소
- 화학 원소 (hwahak wonso)any one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Latvian ķīmiskais elements
- ķīmiskais elementsany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Malay unsur kimia
- unsur kimiaany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Norwegian Bokmål grunnstoff
- grunnstoffany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Persian عنصر شیمیایی, آخشیج کیمیایی
- عنصر شیمیایی (onsor-e šimiyâyi)any one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
- آخشیج کیمیایی (âxšij-e kimiyâyi)any one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Polish pierwiastek chemiczny
- pierwiastek chemicznyany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Portuguese elemento químico
- elemento químicoany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Romanian element chimic
- element chimicany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Russian хими́ческий элеме́нт
- хими́ческий элеме́нт (ximíčeskij elemént)any one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Slovak chemický prvok
- chemický prvokany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Spanish elemento químico
- elemento químicoany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Swahili elementi ya kikemia
- elementi ya kikemiaany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Swedish grundämne
- grundämneany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Tagalog kapnaying mulangkap
- kapnaying mulangkapany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Thai ธาตุเคมี, ธาตุ
- ธาตุเคมีany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
- ธาตุ (tâat)any one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Turkish kimyasal element
- kimyasal elementany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Ukrainian хімі́чний елеме́нт
- хімі́чний елеме́нт (ximíčnyj elemént)any one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Vietnamese nguyên tố hoá học
- nguyên tố hoá họcany one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction
Cite this entry
APA
chemical element. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chemical%20element
MLA
“chemical element.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chemical%20element. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chemical element,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chemical%20element.
Source: chemical element on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.