ingredient

/ɪŋˈgridiɪnt/

/ɪŋˈgridiɪnt/

Other forms: ingredients

An ingredient is one part of a mixture. For example, if you're making chocolate chip cookies, flour is just one ingredient you'll need.

Ingredient comes from the Latin word ingredientem, meaning "that which enters into." It's not just for cookies. If you're in the lab mixing a chemical compound, you carefully add one ingredient after the next and record the results (and hope nothing blows up). It's also an element or factor of something, such as how that song you wrote has all the ingredients to be a sure-fire hit! Remember that it ends in -ent, since often what you Eat has ingrediEnts.

Definitions of ingredient

1. noun

   a component of a mixture or compound
   types:

   admixture, intermixture

   an additional ingredient that is added by mixing with the base

   base

   the principal ingredient of a mixture

   type of:

   component, constituent, element

   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
2. noun

   food that is a component of a mixture in cooking
   synonyms: fixings

   types:

   flavorer, flavoring, flavourer, flavouring, seasoner, seasoning

   something added to food primarily for the savor it imparts

   tomato paste

   thick concentrated tomato puree

   albumen, egg white, ovalbumin, white

   the white part of an egg; the nutritive and protective gelatinous substance surrounding the yolk consisting mainly of albumin dissolved in water

   egg yolk, yolk

   the yellow spherical part of an egg that is surrounded by the albumen

   malted milk

   powder made of dried milk and malted cereals

   cola extract

   a flavoring extracted from the kola nut

   anchovy paste

   paste made primarily of anchovies; used in sauces and spreads

   bouillon cube

   a cube of evaporated seasoned meat extract

   condiment

   a preparation (a sauce or relish or spice) to enhance flavor or enjoyment

   herb

   aromatic potherb used in cookery for its savory qualities

   spice

   any of a variety of pungent aromatic vegetable substances used for flavoring food

   peppermint oil

   oil from the peppermint plant used as flavoring

   spearmint oil

   an aromatic oil obtained from the spearmint plant

   lemon oil

   fragrant yellow oil obtained from the lemon peel

   oil of wintergreen, wintergreen oil

   oil or flavoring obtained from the creeping wintergreen or teaberry plant

   common salt, salt, table salt

   white crystalline form of especially sodium chloride used to season and preserve food

   celery salt

   ground celery seed and salt

   garlic salt

   ground dried garlic and salt

   onion salt

   ground dried onion and salt

   seasoned salt

   combination of salt and vegetable extracts and spices and monosodium glutamate

   sour salt

   crystals of citric acid used as seasoning

   ginger, gingerroot

   pungent rhizome of the common ginger plant; used fresh as a seasoning especially in Asian cookery

   pepper, peppercorn

   pungent seasoning from the berry of the common pepper plant of East India; use whole or ground

   sassafras

   dried root bark of the sassafras tree

   coriander, coriander seed

   dried coriander seeds used whole or ground

   fennel seed

   aromatic anis-scented seeds

   fenugreek, fenugreek seed

   aromatic seeds used as seasoning especially in curry

   ail, garlic

   aromatic bulb used as seasoning

   garlic chive

   large flat leaves used as chive is used

   mustard seed

   black or white seeds ground to make mustard pastes or powders

   nasturtium

   flowers and seeds and leaves all used as flavorings

   turmeric

   bright, yellow spice powder made from a dried, ground plant and used as seasoning

   cardamom, cardamon, cardamum

   aromatic seeds used as seasoning like cinnamon and cloves especially in pickles and barbecue sauces

   cayenne, cayenne pepper, red pepper

   ground pods and seeds of pungent red peppers of the genus Capsicum

   chili powder

   powder made of ground chili peppers mixed with e.g. cumin and garlic and oregano

   curry powder

   pungent blend of cumin and ground coriander seed and turmeric and other spices

   paprika

   a mild powdered seasoning made from dried pimientos

   angelica

   candied stalks of the angelica plant

   almond extract

   flavoring made from almonds macerated in alcohol

   anise, anise seed, aniseed

   liquorice-flavored seeds, used medicinally and in cooking and liquors

   juniper berries

   berrylike cone of a common juniper; used in making gin

   saffron

   dried pungent stigmas of the Old World saffron crocus

   benniseed, sesame seed

   small oval seeds of the sesame plant

   caraway seed

   aromatic seeds of the caraway plant; used widely as seasoning

   poppy seed

   small grey seed of a poppy flower; used whole or ground in baked items

   dill seed

   seed of the dill plant used as seasoning

   celery seed

   seed of the celery plant used as seasoning

   lemon extract

   a flavoring made from (or imitating) lemons

   MSG, monosodium glutamate

   white crystalline compound used as a food additive to enhance flavor; often used in Chinese cooking

   vanilla bean

   long bean-like fruit; seeds are used as flavoring

   vanilla, vanilla extract

   a flavoring prepared from vanilla beans macerated in alcohol (or imitating vanilla beans)

   sweetener, sweetening

   something added to foods to make them taste sweeter

   mocha

   a flavoring made from coffee mixed with chocolate

   cassareep

   a flavoring made by boiling down the juice of the bitter cassava; used in West Indian cooking

   zest

   the outer part of the peel of a citrus fruit, used as flavoring

   type of:

   food product, foodstuff

   a substance that can be used or prepared for use as food
3. noun

   an abstract part of something
   “humor: an effective ingredient of a speech”

   synonyms: component, constituent, element, factor

   types:

   be all and end all, be-all and end-all

   the essential factor; the all-important element; the supreme aim

   plot element

   a component or element of the plot of a story

   point

   a geometric element that has position but no extension

   counterpoint

   an element, idea, or argument used to create a contrast

   MacGuffin, McGuffin

   (film) a plot element that catches the viewers' attention or drives the plot

   attracter, attractor

   (physics) a point in the ideal multidimensional phase space that is used to describe a system toward which the system tends to evolve regardless of the starting conditions of the system

   intersection, intersection point, point of intersection

   a point where lines intersect

   intercept

   the point at which a line intersects a coordinate axis

   type of:

   division, part, section

   one of the portions into which something is regarded as divided and which together constitute a whole