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

However, there are only a few discrete options for the quantum spin on a particle -- for example, up and down.

From Science Daily

"The process is called sintering, which aggregates fine particles together into a more solid state. It is similar to powder metallurgy in the manufacturing of ceramics," continues Tsumori.

From Science Daily

To get the mass, the team measured the total surface area of the plastic particles and incorporated a standard measure of thickness and density based on the most common microplastic waste types: polyethylene and polypropylene.

From Science Daily

The T-vant adjuvant is derived from bacterial outer membrane vesicles, tiny particles that naturally stimulate the immune system.

From Science Daily

The sky is blue because of atmospheric particles that scatter light in slower wavelengths.

From Salon

Related Words

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