trace element

American  

noun

Biochemistry.

1. any element that is required in minute quantities for physiological functioning.

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trace element British  

noun

1. any of various chemical elements, such as iron, manganese, zinc, copper, and iodine, that occur in very small amounts in organisms and are essential for many physiological and biochemical processes

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trace element Scientific  

/ trās /

1. An element present in an organism in only very small amounts but essential for normal metabolism. Iodine and cobalt are trace elements required by humans.

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Etymology

Origin of trace element

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

Dirt collected by a resident at the site showed selenium, a trace element that can be harmful in heavy concentrations, according to the results, which were reviewed by The Times.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2025

Mercury, a trace element, hasn't received the same attention, partly because the terrestrial biosphere's role in the global mercury cycle has only recently been better quantified.

From Science Daily • Feb. 12, 2024

Fact-checkers have so far been unable to confirm or debunk the last of these; given the intermingling of races in his ancestral Brazil, it could even contain a trace element of truth.

From Washington Post • Jan. 4, 2023

Greenland, P. L. & Lovering, J. F. Minor and trace element abundances in chondritic meteorites.

From Nature • Nov. 28, 2017

They guaranteed it would have all the necessary ingredients, right down to the smallest trace element!

From Islands of Space by Campbell, John Wood