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

Privorotsky also warns that even if the U.S. now decides to “aggressively de-escalate” that “crude is just one component of the problem as distillate, gasoil, diesel and critically, European natural gas have all broken out.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026

The company “wins under every architecture,” and its III-V laser is the “one component that every path requires,” he added, referring to different ways to package optical components and chips in data-center networks.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026

Converting discarded PVC into a useful lubricant component could therefore reduce plastic waste while creating a valuable new product.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 29, 2026

“Maintaining an active travel lifestyle may be a meaningful component of healthy aging,” she says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

Fear is in fact a major component of the act of parenting.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

The frequency of the incoming light decreases, reducing the amount of thrust produced by all three components.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 2, 2026

Instead, all of the tedious, disappointing, ridiculous components fuse, creating a viewing experience that is occasionally infuriating in the moment, but leaves the mind the second the credits roll.

From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026

All those components of our business model haven’t changed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

The company could also be looking for opportunities to develop supporting components for chips, he added.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026

At the Four-foot SPT, Mary Jackson conducted tests of the Apollo capsule and other components, honing their fitness for the portion of the journey that would take place in the supersonic speed regime.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Related Words

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