Relating to or made up of component parts; analyzing something by breaking it down into its individual pieces.
From component (from Latin componere, 'to put together') plus the suffix -ial meaning 'relating to.' This became common in linguistics and psychology in the mid-20th century to describe the analysis of meaning through smaller units.
In linguistics, componential analysis was revolutionary because it suggested that meaning itself could be broken down like a machine—the word 'bachelor' = 'male' + 'unmarried' + 'adult.' It's the same mindset that made computer programming possible!
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