building block

building block (plural building blocks)

(literally) A component that is part of a larger construction, such as a brick or a stone.
1. A block made of wood or plastic that is used as a children's toy and can be stacked or joined to form a larger structure.
(figuratively) A component that is part of a larger system.
Words are the building blocks of a language.

Cells are the building blocks of life.
- 2023 June 30, Marina Hyde, “The tide is coming in fast on Rishi Sunak – and it’s full of sewage”, in The Guardian‎:
  If you thought leveraged debt was bad when the Glazers did it with Manchester United, it’s possible you’ll find it even worse when water firms are holding you to a 40% bill hike if you simply want one of the essential building blocks of human life to come out of your tap.

component that is part of a larger construction

block made of wood or plastic that is used as a children's toy

Chinese:
Mandarin: 積木 / 积木 (zh) (jīmù)
Finnish: rakennuspalikka
French: cube (fr) m
German: Bauklotz (de) m, Spielbaustein m
Hungarian: építőkocka (hu)
Japanese: 積み木 (ja) (tsumiki)
Korean: please add this translation if you can
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: өрдөг тоглоом (ördög togloom), эвлүүлдэг тоглоом (evlüüldeg togloom), зэргэлэх мод (zergelex mod) (China)

Mongolian: ᠥᠷᠳᠡᠭ
ᠲᠣᠭᠯᠠᠭᠠᠮ (ördeg toɣlaɣam), ᠡᠪᠯᠡᠭᠦᠯᠳᠡᠭ
ᠲᠣᠭᠯᠠᠭᠠᠮ (eblegüldeg toɣlaɣam), ᠵᠡᠷᠭᠡᠯᠡᠬᠦ
ᠮᠣᠳᠤ (ǰergelekü modu)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: byggeblokk m or f, byggekloss m

Nynorsk: byggjekloss m, byggekloss m
Portuguese: bloco de construção m, bloco de montar m
Russian: ку́бик (ru) m (kúbik)
Spanish: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: ^{(please verify)} inşaat kutusu parçası
Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

(figuratively) component that is part of a larger system

English