[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

component \compo"nent\ ko^mp=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
see also:
compound 

[2] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

component \compo"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
see also:
component of force 

[3] : WordNet (r) 2.0

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: 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" syn: part, portion,
         component part
     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: constituent, element
see also:
constituent element factor ingredient part portion 
component part 

[4] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

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

[5] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

component
     
         an object adhering to a component
        architecture.
     
        1997-11-20
     
     
see also:
object component architecture 

Component >> C Words
Component, definition of term: Component
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