particle

[ pahr-ti-kuhl ]

noun

1. a minute portion, piece, fragment, or amount; a tiny or very small bit:

   a particle of dust; not a particle of supporting evidence.

   Synonyms: speck, grain, tittle, jot, iota, whit, mite

2. Physics.
   1. one of the extremely small constituents of matter, as an atom or nucleus.
   2. an elementary particle, quark, or gluon.
   3. a body in which the internal motion is negligible.
3. a clause or article, as of a document.
4. Grammar.
   1. (in some languages) one of the major form classes, or parts of speech, consisting of words that are neither nouns nor verbs, or of all uninflected words, or the like.
   2. such a word.
   3. a small word of functional or relational use, as an article, preposition, or conjunction, whether of a separate form class or not.
5. Roman Catholic Church. a small piece of the Host given to each lay communicant in a Eucharistic service.

particle

/ ˈpɑːtɪkəl /

noun

1. an extremely small piece of matter; speck
2. a very tiny amount; iota

   it doesn't make a particle of difference

3. a function word, esp (in certain languages) a word belonging to an uninflected class having suprasegmental or grammatical function

   questions in Japanese are indicated by the particle ``ka''

   the Greek particles ``mēn'' and ``de'' are used to express contrast

   English ``up'' is sometimes regarded as an adverbial particle

4. a common affix, such as re-, un-, or -ness
5. physics a body with finite mass that can be treated as having negligible size, and internal structure
6. See elementary particle
7. RC Church a small piece broken off from the Host at Mass
8. archaic.
   a section or clause of a document

particle

/ pär′tĭ-kəl /

1. A very small piece of solid matter.
2. An elementary particle, subatomic particle, or atomic nucleus.
3. Also called corpuscle

Other Words From

• parti·cled adjective
• inter·parti·cle adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of particle¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Latin word particula. See part, -i-, -cle ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of particle¹

C14: from Latin particula a small part, from pars part

Example Sentences

Dr. Djordje Minic, a professor of physics and particle and string theory at the University of Texas at Austin, isn’t so sure about these conclusions.

From Salon

Then we’d work out the choreography, and then the particle team would take that information and use very elaborate simulation engines to get the basic path of the tornado and deal with its effect on the environment.

From Los Angeles Times

Its particle/wave title alludes to the often mystifying duality of subatomic reality, which drove major scientific discovery for three centuries, from Isaac Newton to Albert Einstein.

From Los Angeles Times

The slab didn’t give off detectable amounts of any “toxic organic compound” when cut, nor were there “relevant differences in particle sizes,” according to a Cosentino summary.

From Los Angeles Times

“These artificial neural networks have been used to advance research across physics topics as diverse as particle physics, material science and astrophysics,” said Ellen Moons, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics, at the announcement.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• fleck
• fragment
• grain
• mite
• molecule
• ray
• speck