trace element

English

 trace element on Wikipedia

Etymology

Compound of trace (“very small amount”) +‎ element (“chemical element”).

Noun

trace element (plural trace elements)

1. (chemistry) A chemical element present in a sample in very small quantities.
2. (biochemistry, nutrition) A chemical element in an organism’s diet that is required in very small amounts in order to maintain proper biochemical function.

   Synonyms: micronutrient, micromineral, microelement

   Antonyms: nutrient, macronutrient, electrolyte

   Hypernym: nutrient

   Hyponyms: vitamin, trace mineral

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with tracer element.

Translations

chemical element in an organism’s diet

Catalan: oligoelement m Chinese: Mandarin: 稀有元素 (zh) (xīyǒu yuánsù), 微量元素 (zh) (wēiliàng yuánsù) Czech: stopový prvek m Danish: sporstof n Dutch: sporenelement (nl) n Finnish: hivenaine (fi) French: oligo-élément (fr) m German: Spurenelement (de) n Greek: Ιχνοστοιχείο n (Ichnostoicheío) Italian: oligoelemento (it) m Norwegian: Bokmål: sporstoff (no) n Nynorsk: sporstoff n Romanian: oligoelement (ro) n Russian: микроэлеме́нт (ru) m (mikroelemént) Spanish: oligoelemento (es) m, microelemento m