quanta

American  

[kwon-tuh] / ˈkwɒn tə /

noun

1. the plural of quantum.

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quanta British  

/ ˈkwɒntə /

noun

1. the plural of quantum

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quanta Cultural  

1. sing. quantum In physics, discrete bundles in which radiation and other forms of energy occur. For example, in the Bohr atom, light is sent out in quanta called photons. (See quantum mechanics.)

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Example Sentences

At wide-open throttle, the raunchiness doesn’t come in wild quanta but in one smoothly linear, incredibly steep exponential function, with no interval for tactility and feedback.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 30, 2025

It is especially notable to this process that the emergent composite fermion particle is unique in that the electron captures six quantized magnetic flux quanta, forming the most intricate composite fermion known to date.

From Science Daily • Feb. 21, 2024

Quantum theory typically deals with the universe in tiny chunks, or quanta, while general relativity takes the cosmos to be continuous even at the smallest scales.

From Scientific American • Aug. 19, 2023

Quantum mechanics describes how, in the subatomic realm, everything is broken up in discrete chunks, or quanta, such as the individual particles of light called photons.

From New York Times • May 8, 2023

Sometimes the light quanta seemed to measure out at three or four meters long; sometimes they appeared to be “just a little bundle of energy,” Beams recalled.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik