ingredient
/ɪnˈɡriːdɪənt
/noun
1Any of the foods or substances that are combined to make a particular dish: mix all of the ingredients together pork is an important ingredient in many stir-fried dishes...
- Place the first four ingredients in a food processor with a pinch of salt, and process until combined.
- Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan big enough to hold everything, including the pears.
- Combine the remaining ingredients, season with salt and pepper and place on a plate.
1.1A component part or element of something: the affair contains all the ingredients of an insoluble mystery...
- The contribution of her staff over many years was also a vital ingredient in the factor of success.
- His fiction is constipated with the factual ingredients he stuffed into it.
- It is a film about overcoming the odds, an integral ingredient of the bush myth.
Synonyms
constituent, component, component part, element;
part, piece, integral part, bit, section, strand, portion, unit, item, feature, aspect, attribute;
(ingredients) contents, makings
rare integrant
Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin ingredient- 'entering', from the verb ingredi, from in- 'into' + gradi 'walk'.