1. (noun)component, constituent, element, factor, ingredient an abstractpart 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"
2. (noun)part, portion, component part, component, constituent 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"
3. (noun)component, constituent, element an artifact that is one of the individualparts of which a compositeentity 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"