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Element

(Science: chemistry) One of the 103 known chemical substances that cannot be divided into simpler substances by chemical means. A substance whose atoms all have the same atomic number.

Examples: hydrogen, lead, uranium.(See atom, matter, nuclide.) Any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter.The most favorable environment for a plant or animal; water is the element of fishes.A substance consisting entirely of one element, for instance, carbon, hydrogen or oxygen. Elements can combine into compounds to form other substances.