component

American  

[kuhm-poh-nuhnt, kom-] / kəmˈpoʊ nənt, kɒm- /

noun

• components
  plural

1. 

   a constituent part; element; ingredient.

2. a part of a mechanical or electrical system.

   They checked the pads, rotors, and other components of my car's brake system.

3. Physics. the projection of a vector quantity, as force or velocity, along an axis.

4. Physical Chemistry. one of the set of the minimum number of chemical constituents by which every phase of a given system can be described.

5. Mathematics.

   1. a connected subset of a set, not contained in any other connected subset of the set.

   2. a coordinate of a vector.

6. Linguistics.

   1. one of the major subdivisions of a generative grammar.

      base component;

      transformational component;

      semantic component;

      phonological component.

   2. a feature determined by componential analysis.

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adjective

1. being or serving as an element (in something larger); composing; constituent.

   the component parts of a computer system.

component British  

/ kəmˈpəʊnənt /

noun

1. a constituent part or aspect of something more complex

   a component of a car

2. Also called: element.  any electrical device, such as a resistor, that has distinct electrical characteristics and that may be connected to other electrical devices to form a circuit

3. maths

   1. one of a set of two or more vectors whose resultant is a given vector

   2. the projection of this given vector onto a specified line

4. one of the minimum number of chemically distinct constituents necessary to describe fully the composition of each phase in a system See phase rule

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adjective

1. forming or functioning as a part or aspect; constituent

Synonym Usage

See element.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subcomponent
  noun
• componental
  adjective
• componented
  adjective
• componential
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• components
  plural

Etymology

Origin of component

First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin compōnent- (stem of compōnēns, present participle of compōnere “to put together”), equivalent to com- com- + pōn(ere) “to put” + -ent- -ent

Explanation

It's the Ikea curse: You spend four hours figuring out how to piece together your new furniture, only to be left with one random component, or part, that doesn't seem to fit anywhere. It's not surprising that component is related to a Latin word that means "to put together." You simply can't put something together without all of the correct components. Technically speaking, a component is an element of a system or a part of a machine. But a component can also be a factor or ingredient, such as the components of a decision or the components of a really good chocolate cake.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

component components

Amodei said the three-step plan he has is first to improve processes at his own company, then to set industry standards and then have an international component to it.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

That same year, United terminated its pension plan, making financial planning a more important component of their work.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

Has become a key component in this system.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

The compound, made from one silicon atom and two oxygen atoms, occurs in pure form in materials such as sand and is also a major component of volcanic rocks.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 12, 2026

Dried Billywig stings are used in several potions and are believed to be a component in the popular sweet Fizzing Whizzbees.

From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling

A Harvard University team had reported repeating "skeletal" components within axons in a study published in 2012.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026

The Journal’s Gavin Bade and Santiago Pérez write that the proposal would limit the amount of components that come from outside North America in the production of AI hardware.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

Users of Meta glasses have figured out ways to obscure components meant to indicate that a photo or video is being captured, including by tampering with the electronics in the device.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

To give Dürrenmatt his due, Pasadena Playhouse has reassembled key components of the team that made “Amadeus” one of the best productions of the first half of 2026.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

Musical timbre is one of the most critical of all components of music, yet remains one of the most mysterious of all human perceptual attributes.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

Related Words

• factor
• ingredient
• item
• peripheral
• piece
• segment
• unit