component

[kuhm-poh-nuhnt, kom-]

noun

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.

adjective

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

   the component parts of a computer system.

component

/ kəmˈpəʊnənt, ˌkɒmpəˈnɛnʃəl /

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

adjective

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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of component¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of component¹

C17: from Latin compōnere to put together, from pōnere to place, put

Synonym Study

See element.

Example Sentences

In autophagy, damaged or unnecessary proteins are enclosed in small membrane-bound vesicles and then broken down safely by enzymes, effectively recycling cellular components.

Read more on Science Daily

However, growing prices for smartphone components will add pressure to the market in 2026, Counterpoint said, which is expected to soften growth for the overall smartphone industry.

Read more on MarketWatch

The computing power of chips has increased dramatically as makers cram them with more microscopic electronic components.

Read more on Barron's

The suggestion seemed that PC makers might have to raise prices to offset their component costs, scaring away some buyers.

Read more on MarketWatch

“Lenovo will be able to achieve share gains through the memory cycle thanks to its capabilities to secure enough component supplies,” they say.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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