Elementary chain theorem

The union of an elementary chain of structures has a unique induced structure, and every member of the chain is an elementary substructure of the union.

A directed system of first-order structures and coherent elementary embeddings has a direct limit into which every member embeds elementarily. Represent an element by a pair consisting of a stage and an element at that stage; identify two representatives when their images agree at a common later stage. Interpret functions and relations at a common stage. Mathematical induction on first-order formulas proves elementarity: for an existential first-order formula true at the limit, its witness and parameters occur at a common stage, and elementarity pulls truth back to the stage containing the original parameters. This generalizes the elementary chain theorem beyond linearly ordered diagrams.