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

There was a sharp increase in the prices-paid component of an index of purchasing-manager activity, helping to fuel this view.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

"Investment that merely expands distribution networks or assembles products using Chinese parts could increase imports and deepen dependence. Approvals should therefore prioritise technology transfer, local value addition, domestic component production and exports from India."

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

"The organic component does the important work," Stylianou said.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 4, 2026

Hard disk drives have become a key component of the AI build-out as they enable the storage of vast amounts of data.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026

By October 1940, they began to sift through the concentrated bacterial detritus, painstakingly separating each chemical component, and testing each fraction for its capacity to transmit genetic information.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Lumentum says demand for some optical components will exceed supply through 2028, lifting its shares and other optical networking stocks.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

She also notes that the chillout room upstairs, all-gender bathrooms and gaming station are all special components of Trans*cendent.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

Hybrid bonding technology combines multiple materials and components at the microscopic level to create advanced semiconductor packages.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has confirmed that Russell needs to take a new power unit this weekend, putting him over the limit on several components and meaning he will be penalised in Singapore.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

At Holmes’s instructions Berkler added a number of components made of iron.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Related Words

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