ingredient
Americannoun
-
something that enters as an element into a mixture.
Flour, eggs, and sugar are the main ingredients in the cake.
-
a constituent element of anything; component.
the ingredients of political success.
noun
Related Words
See element.
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.
Vocabulary lists containing ingredient
Selection Vocabulary 1, Unit 1
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National Cookie Day
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Selection Vocabulary 1, Unit 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Luckily, Joseph Zagorski, a toxicologist for the Center of Research on Ingredient Safety at Michigan State University, was happy to break down the science for me.
From Slate • Apr. 17, 2023
Hidden Ingredient: We mostly associate ingredients with substances to make a dish.
From Salon • Jan. 15, 2023
Ingredient information on some juice pouches, for instance, shows North Korea uses tree leaves as a sugar substitute.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 20, 2022
Tap the trigger, the perk available on the Main Ingredient Fusion rifle sold by Xur, is getting nerfed to make it far less stable so it’s less overpowered in PvP.
From The Verge • Feb. 3, 2022
Thereupon I gave him a List of the Drugs of which the Composition was to consist, of which the greatest Ingredient was Mercury.
From The Travels and Adventures of James Massey by Patot, Simon Tyssot de
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
