elementary
adjective /ˌelɪˈmentri/
/ˌelɪˈmentri/
- an elementary English course
- a book for elementary students
- at an elementary level
- I'm taking classes in elementary Italian.
- It's an elementary law of economics: the scarcer the commodity, the higher the price.
- How could you make such an elementary mistake?
- I made some rather elementary mistakes.
- elementary questions
Word Originlate Middle English (in the sense ‘composed of the four elements, earth, air, fire, and water’): from Latin elementarius, from elementum ‘principle’, translating Greek stoikheion ‘step, component part’. Current senses date from the mid 16th cent.