— componential /kom'peuh nen"sheuhl/ , componental , adj. — componented , adj.
/keuhm poh"neuhnt, kom-/ , n.
1. a constituent part; element; ingredient.
2. a part of a mechanical or electrical system: hi-fi components.
3. Physics. the projection of a vector quantity, as force or velocity, along an axis.
4. Physical Chem. one of the set of the minimum number of chemical constituents by which every phase of a given system can be described.
5. Math.
a. a connected subset of a set, not contained in any other connected subset of the set.
b. a coordinate of a vector.
6. Ling.
a. one of the major subdivisions of a generative grammar: base component; transformational component; semantic component; phonological component. Cf. level (def. 17).
b. a feature determined by componential analysis.
adj.
7. being or serving as an element (in something larger); composing; constituent: the component parts of a computer system.
[ 1555-65; component- (s. of componens, prp. of componere to put together), equiv. to com- COM- + pon ( ere ) to put + -ent- -ENT ]
Syn. 1. See element .