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parton

American  
[pahr-ton] / ˈpɑr tɒn /

noun

Physics.

  1. a constituent of the nucleon originally postulated in the theoretical analysis of high-energy scattering of electrons by nucleons and subsequently identified with quarks and gluons.

Parton 1 British  
/ ˈpɑːtən /

noun

  1. Dolly. born 1946, US country and pop singer and songwriter

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
parton 2 British  
/ ˈpɑːˌtɒn /

noun

  1. physics a hypothetical elementary particle postulated as a constituent of neutrons and protons

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of parton

1965–70; part(icle) + -on 1; coined by R. P. Feynman

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He adds that unitarity makes it possible to extract information about parton entropy across a wide range of collision energies.

From Science Daily • Jan. 5, 2026

"The only country singer i know i can trust is dolly parton."

From Fox News • Aug. 18, 2021

When the Gen-Z sheriff and “Old Town Road” mastermind Lil Nas X wondered aloud, on Twitter, “y’all think i can get dolly parton and megan thee stallion on an old town road remix?,”

From New York Times • Nov. 21, 2019

This immediately explained the success of the parton model, but it also suggested that if quarks get further apart, the QCD interactions between them get stronger, potentially explaining confinement.

From Scientific American • Jun. 6, 2019

I own it, I own it, lat, ant hope t'e Lort, in his great marcy, wilt forgif ant parton t'e great mistake I mate.

From The Chainbearer Or, The Littlepage Manuscripts by Cooper, James Fenimore

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.