component

component
    n 1: an abstract part of something; "jealousy was a component of
         his character"; "two constituents of a musical composition
         are melody and harmony"; "the grammatical elements of a
         sentence"; "a key factor in her success"; "humor: an
         effective ingredient of a speech" [syn: {component},
         {constituent}, {element}, {factor}, {ingredient}]
    2: something determined in relation to something that includes
       it; "he wanted to feel a part of something bigger than
       himself"; "I read a portion of the manuscript"; "the smaller
       component is hard to reach"; "the animal constituent of
       plankton" [syn: {part}, {portion}, {component part},
       {component}, {constituent}]
    3: an artifact that is one of the individual parts of which a
       composite entity is made up; especially a part that can be
       separated from or attached to a system; "spare components for
       cars"; "a component or constituent element of a system" [syn:
       {component}, {constituent}, {element}]
    

Component \Com*po"nent\ (k[o^]m*p[=o]"nent), a. [L. componens,
   p. pr. of componere. See {Compound}, v. t.]
   Serving, or helping, to form; composing; constituting;
   constituent.
   [1913 Webster]

         The component parts of natural bodies.   --Sir I.
                                                  Newton.
   [1913 Webster]
    

Component \Com*po"nent\, n.
   A constituent part; an ingredient.
   [1913 Webster]

   {Component of force} (Mech.), a force which, acting
      conjointly with one or more forces, produces the effect of
      a single force or resultant; one of a number of forces
      into which a single force may be resolved.
      [1913 Webster] Compony
    

component

   <programming> An {object} adhering to a {component
   architecture}.

   (1997-11-20)
    

109 Moby Thesaurus words for "component":
      actuator, adjunct, air, amplifier, anode, appurtenance, aspect,
      atom, atomic particles, base, brute matter, building block,
      capacitator, cathode, chemical element, circumstance, clock,
      constituent, contents, contingent, control relay, control resistor,
      converter, cross section, detachment, detail, division, dole,
      earth, effector, electrode, element, elementary,
      elementary particle, elementary unit, factor, feature,
      feedback amplifier, filament, fire, fixings, formative, fraction,
      fundamental particle, generator, grid, hyle, hypostasis, inductor,
      ingredient, installment, integral, integrant, item, magnetic relay,
      makings, material, material world, materiality, matter,
      meter relay, modulator, molecule, monad, natural world, nature,
      oscillator, parcel, part, part and parcel, particular, percentage,
      photocathode, physical world, plate, plenum, portion,
      pressure transducer, quadrant, quarter, quota, random sample,
      reactor, regenerator, relay, reluctance amplifier, remainder,
      resistor, sample, sampling, section, sector, segment,
      servo amplifier, share, specialty, stuff, subdivision, subgroup,
      subspecies, substance, substratum, the four elements,
      thermal timing relay, transducer, transmitter, trigatron,
      unit of being, water