Elementary Meaning
/ˌɛlɪˈmɛntəɹi/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjRelating to the basic, essential or fundamental part of something.
adjVery simple.
Sentence Examples
In her elementary school days, Mary dreamed of becoming a teacher.
There used to be an elementary school here.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Learning multiplication tables is an ____ math skill for young students.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In her ____ school days, Mary dreamed of becoming a teacher.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English elementare, from Latin elementārius (“elementary”), from elementum (“one of the four elements of antiquity; fundamentals”) + -ārius (adjective-forming suffix). Cognate with French élémentaire. By surface analysis, element + -ary.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The physics of elementary particles in the 20th century was distinguished by the observation of particles whose existence had been predicted by theorists sometimes decades earlier."
— 2012 March 26, Jeremy Bernstein, “A Palette of Particles”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 146:
"He was my dentist. My mom took me to him back in elementary and junior high."
— 2011 May 3, Lee Livingston, “Cleveland – Summer of 1962”, in In the Rearview Mirror: A Road Trip into the Heart of Another Country – America 1961, Carthay Press, →ISBN, page 146:
"The demon (or elementary) of the South-West wind was particularly dreaded, as being the gini of fever and madness."
— 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 45:
"[…] the spiritual man is either translated like Enoch and Elias to the higher state, or falls down lower than an elementary again […]"
— 2003, H P Blavatsky, The Letters of H. P. Blavatsky, volume 1:
"But, in Africa these became definite in their Egyptian Types, by means of which we can follow their development from the elementaries of Chaos and Space into Celestial Intelligencers […]"
— 2007, Gerald Massey, The Natural Genesis, page 332:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Learning multiplication tables is an ____ math skill for young students.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In her ____ school days, Mary dreamed of becoming a teacher.