component

American  

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

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 British  

/ 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

Related Words

See element.

Other Word Forms

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

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

Example Sentences

Under Casey, the state had every right to regulate therapists’ speech as one component of a larger law regulating the medical profession.

From Slate • Mar. 31, 2026

The cash-and-stock deal, including a roughly $16 billion cash component, is expected to be structured as a reverse Morris trust.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026

Speaking to the BBC, Bartram said Oakes had been "an extraordinarily important component to the band".

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026

“So the ISM manufacturing survey will be in the spotlight, including the prices paid component for whether the inflationary impact has started to filter through.”

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 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

Related Words

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