noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   An object in code that behaves like an HTML element but is not a true element. Internet
2. 2
   In a chemical formula, something that is called by a chemical symbol, but is not an element; e.g. Et may mean ethyl group, or Ph (or Φ) may mean phenyl group. (See "Skeletal formula § Pseudoelement symbols" on Wikipedia.)

Etymology

From pseudo- + element.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.