ingredient

American  

[in-gree-dee-uhnt] / ɪnˈgri di ənt /

noun

• ingredients
  plural

1. 

   something that enters as an element into a mixture.

   Flour, eggs, and sugar are the main ingredients in the cake.

2. a constituent element of anything; component.

   the ingredients of political success.

---

ingredient British  

/ ɪnˈɡriːdɪənt /

noun

1. a component of a mixture, compound, etc, esp in cooking

---

Synonym Usage

See element.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ingredients
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of ingredient

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English from Latin ingredient- (stem of ingrediēns ), present participle of ingredī “to go or step into, commence,” equivalent to in- in- ² + -gredient- “going”; see gradient

---

Explanation

An ingredient is one part of a mixture. For example, if you're making chocolate chip cookies, flour is just one ingredient you'll need. Ingredient comes from the Latin word ingredientem, meaning "that which enters into." It's not just for cookies. If you're in the lab mixing a chemical compound, you carefully add one ingredient after the next and record the results (and hope nothing blows up). It's also an element or factor of something, such as how that song you wrote has all the ingredients to be a sure-fire hit! Remember that it ends in -ent, since often what you Eat has ingrediEnts.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ingredient ingredients

Scientists at Flinders University have identified properties in vanillin that could make it a promising ingredient in treatments for chronic wounds, infections, and damaged tissue.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

That price is paid primarily by the poorer countries where the main ingredient of fishmeal is harvested and processed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

Booths were adorned with strings of dried red peppers -- the raw ingredient used to make paprika -- recalling a sight once common on houses in the surrounding countryside every autumn.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

Humility, it turns out, is an essential ingredient in central-bank independence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

“It’s all right; you can come in. The confidential ingredient mixing is finished. Now I’m just cooking it up.”

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

Along with pigs and beavers, cats often served as ingredients in human medicaments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

The new law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last month, requires diaper manufacturers to disclose ingredients both on packaging and online.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

Some protein powders contain high amounts of added sugar, artificial ingredients, and hidden stimulants.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

The Swiss maker of ingredients for the foods and cosmetics industries reported an 8.6% increase in quarterly like-for-like sales, which compares with consensus expectations of 4.7%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

The three key ingredients of a photo were simplicity, composition, and lighting.

From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• additive
• element
• factor
• piece

---