ingredient

American  

[in-gree-dee-uhnt] / ɪnˈgri di ənt /

noun

• ingredients
  plural

1. 

   something that enters as an element into a mixture.

   Flour, eggs, and sugar are the main ingredients in the cake.

2. a constituent element of anything; component.

   the ingredients of political success.

---

ingredient British  

/ ɪnˈɡriːdɪənt /

noun

1. a component of a mixture, compound, etc, esp in cooking

---

Synonym Usage

See element.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ingredients
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of ingredient

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English from Latin ingredient- (stem of ingrediēns ), present participle of ingredī “to go or step into, commence,” equivalent to in- in- ² + -gredient- “going”; see gradient

---

Explanation

An ingredient is one part of a mixture. For example, if you're making chocolate chip cookies, flour is just one ingredient you'll need. Ingredient comes from the Latin word ingredientem, meaning "that which enters into." It's not just for cookies. If you're in the lab mixing a chemical compound, you carefully add one ingredient after the next and record the results (and hope nothing blows up). It's also an element or factor of something, such as how that song you wrote has all the ingredients to be a sure-fire hit! Remember that it ends in -ent, since often what you Eat has ingrediEnts.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ingredient ingredients

The researchers envision vanillin eventually becoming an ingredient in advanced wound dressings, ulcer treatments, targeted drug delivery systems, and therapies designed to support tissue regeneration.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

That price is paid primarily by the poorer countries where the main ingredient of fishmeal is harvested and processed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

Rising ingredient prices have pinched Pepsi and other food processors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Booths were adorned with strings of dried red peppers -- the raw ingredient used to make paprika -- recalling a sight once common on houses in the surrounding countryside every autumn.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

And so by the 1700s, sugar was becoming a standard ingredient in England, Holland, and the North Americas for everyone who had a bit of money.

From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson

Signed into law last month, the bill requires California companies and manufacturers to disclose online a list of ingredients, and their purpose, by January 2029.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

The new law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last month, requires diaper manufacturers to disclose ingredients both on packaging and online.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

Among the one-star recipients is Arkhé in Norwood, which specialises in open-fire cooking, while Aptos in Adelaide serves a tasting menu focused on native Australian ingredients.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

Or add all the ingredients from mom’s pumpkin pie recipe that someone, at some point, texted to you, to your shopping list.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

While Sara and I put ingredients into our saucepan, I lead into my question.

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• additive
• element
• factor
• piece

---