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.

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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, 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

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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

When this price rises, it typically pushes up fuel prices too, because oil is a key component.

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026

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 firm added that a successful ramp of Centurion is a “key component of the Peabody investment case.”

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 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

“Give all lessons an auditory/visual/tactile/kinesthetic component to support contextual learning for students of all challenges,” Sobol says.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

Related Words

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