particle
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle French particule, and its source, Latin particula (“small part, particle”), diminutive of pars (“part, piece”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
particle (plural particles)
- A very small piece of matter, a fragment; especially, the smallest possible part of something. [from 14th c.]
- (linguistics) A word that has a particular grammatical function but does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech, such as the word to in English infinitives or O as the vocative particle. [from 16th c.]
- (physics) Any of various physical objects making up the constituent parts of an atom; an elementary particle or subatomic particle. [from 19th c.]
- 2011, Brian Cox & Jeff Forshaw, The Quantum Universe, Allen Lane 2011, p. 55:
- What, he asked himself, does quantum theory have to say about the familiar properties of particles such as position?
- 2012 March-April, Jeremy Bernstein, “A Palette of Particles”, American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 146:
- The physics of elementary particles in the 20th century was distinguished by the observation of particles whose existence had been predicted by theorists sometimes decades earlier.
- 2011, Brian Cox & Jeff Forshaw, The Quantum Universe, Allen Lane 2011, p. 55:
Synonyms[edit]
- See also Wikisaurus:particle
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
body with very small size
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word that does not belong to any particular part of speech
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elementary particle or subatomic particle
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