Element

1. Any one of the simplest or essential parts or principles of which anything consists. The compound must be reduced to its composit elements.
2. (chemistry) Any one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction or by any chemical means and made up of atoms all having the same number of protons. The most common element is silicon.
3. (plural only) Atmospheric forces such as strong winds and rains.
4. (law) A required aspect or component of a cause or action. A deed is regarded a violation of law only if each element can be proved.
5. Something small. There must not be an element of doubt.

6. A place or state of being that an individual or object is better suited towards. On computers he is in his own element.
7. A group of people within a larger group having a particular common characteristic. Watch out for the criminal element in business.
8. A short form of heating element, a component in electrical equipment, often in the form of a coil, having high resistance, thereby generating heat when a current is passed through it. The heating element has burnt in two.
9. One of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists; water, earth, fire, and air.