baryon

American  

[bar-ee-on] / ˈbær iˌɒn /

noun

Physics.

1. a proton, neutron, or any elementary particle that decays into a set of particles that includes a proton.

---

baryon British  

/ ˈbærɪˌɒn /

noun

1. any of a class of elementary particles that have a mass greater than or equal to that of the proton, participate in strong interactions, and have a spin of 1/ 2 . Baryons are either nucleons or hyperons. The baryon number is the number of baryons in a system minus the number of antibaryons

---

baryon Scientific  

/ băr′ē-ŏn′ /

1. Any of a family of subatomic particles composed of three quarks or three antiquarks. They are generally more massive than mesons, and interact with each other via the strong force. Baryons form a subclass of hadrons and are subdivided into nucleons and hyperons. Protons and neutrons are baryons.

2. See Table at subatomic particle

---

Other Word Forms

• baryonic adjective

Etymology

Origin of baryon

1950–55; < Greek barý ( s ) heavy + (fermi)on

Example Sentences

However, interest in evolving dark energy was vigorously rekindled last year from the combination of supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillation, and cosmic microwave background data from the DES, DESI, and Planck experiments.

From Science Daily • Nov. 4, 2025

It is believed to be a baryon acoustic oscillation, a pressure wave frozen in time from the beginning of the cosmos and then stretched out to galactic scales by the universe’s expansion.

From Scientific American • Sep. 25, 2023

If that happens, then both lepton and baryon conservation would be violated.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

Verify that baryon number, lepton numbers, and charge are conserved.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

The conservation of total baryon number is a more general rule than first noted in nuclear physics, where it was observed that the total number of nucleons was always conserved in nuclear reactions and decays.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015