The corpus record — Latin

elementum

elementum · n

a first principle

Generated live from the audited Latin corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

Oratio Consulis Ausonii Versibus Rhopalicis 1 · 47.39/10k
Epitaphia heroum qui bello Troico interfuerunt 2 · 16.67/10k
Ad Nationes 18 · 12.04/10k
De Baptismo 5 · 11.71/10k
Griphus Ternarii numeri 1 · 9.35/10k
Hamartigenia 4 · 6.26/10k
Adversus Hermogenem 6 · 5.4/10k
De Otio 1 · 5.1/10k
Contra Symmachum 6 · 4.99/10k
De Rerum Natura 23 · 4.72/10k
Adversus Valentinianos 3 · 4.71/10k
Panegyricus dictus Manlio Theodoro consuli 1 · 4.65/10k

Densest 12 of 74 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. ĕlĕmentum — Lewis & Short

ĕlĕmentum, i, n.root al-, to nourish; Gr. a)/n-al-tos, a)/lsos; Lat. alo, alimentum, etc.; cf. Sanscr. al-akā, a girl,

I a first principle, element (cf.: initium, principium, exordium, primordium); Gr. stoixei=on.

I Lit., in plur.: nec de elementis video dubitari quatuor esse ea, Plin. 2, 5, 4, § 10; Lucr. 1, 827; 913; 2, 393 et saep.; Cic. Ac. 1, 7, 26; Sen. Q. N. 3, 12 sq.; Quint. 2, 17, 38; 3, 8, 31; Ov. M. 15, 237; 1, 29; Vulg. 2 Pet. 3, 10.—In sing., Plin. 10, 69, 88, § 191; 11, 36, 42, § 119; 31, 1, 1, § 1; Juv. 15, 86; Amm. 17, 13: quia ignis inviolabile sit elementum, Lact. 1, 12 med.; 7, 9 al.—

II Transf.

A The alphabet, Suet. Caes. 56 (cf. Prisc. 538 P.).—More freq.,

B Transf., the first principles, rudiments, in the arts and sciences (cf. doctrina, praecepta).

1 In gen.: puerorum, Cic. de Or. 1, 35, 163; cf. Quint. prooem. § 21; 1, 1, 35; Hor. S. 1, 1, 26; id. Ep. 1, 20, 17 et saep.: loquendi, Cic. Ac. 2, 28 fin.; cf. id. de Or. 2, 11, 45; Quint. 2, 3, 13; Ov. M. 9, 719 et saep.—

2 In partic.

a The ten categories of Aristotle, Quint. 3, 6, 23 sq. Spald.—*

b Meton., elementary scholars, beginners: vix se prima elementa ad spem effingendae eloquentiae audebunt, Quint. 1, 2, 26.—

C The beginnings of other things: prima Romae, Ov. F. 3, 179: prima Caesaris, id. ib. 709: cupidinis pravi, Hor. C. 3, 24, 52; cf. irarum, Sil. 3, 77: vitiorum, Juv. 14, 123 al.

2. elementum — Walde–Hofmann

elementum, -; n. (meist Plur.) „die Buchstaben (Schriftzeichen; bei Spüteren nach griech. Theorie die Laute) als Grundbestandteile der Rede*; ,Anfangsgründe (im Lesen und Schreiben, in Wissenschaften und Künsten)“, übtr. „Anfänge überhaupt“; philos. t. t. „die vier Grundstoffe“ (wofür Lucil. oroıgela, Varro quattuor partes; daneben noch initia, principia, primordia usw.), „die Atome“ (nach den Epikureern des 1. Jh.) … — [Walde–Hofmann, s.v. elementum, p. 429]

In the wild

elementaque Prudentius, Apotheosis 3.733
elementis Tertullian, Ad Nationes 2.3
elementa Ovid, Fasti 3.709
Elementa Boethius, De consolatione philosophiae 4.M6
elementum Tertullian, Adversus Valentinianos 15
elementum Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 2.103.p5

6 of 234 attestations shown.

Where it came from

Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine Treated in Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine s.v. elementum (scan p. 217; entry #3360).
Walde-Hofmann, Lateinisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Walde-Hofmann, Lateinisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. elementum (scan pp. 429-430; entry #1004).

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Latin text and lemmatization derived from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit), CC BY-SA 4.0. Lewis & Short (public domain) via Perseus. This derived data is shared under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license.