ELEMENTARY PARTICLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does elementary particle mean? 

• ELEMENTARY PARTICLE (noun)
  The noun ELEMENTARY PARTICLE has 1 sense:

1. (physics) a particle that is less complex than an atom; regarded as constituents of all matter

  Familiarity information: ELEMENTARY PARTICLE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ELEMENTARY PARTICLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(physics) a particle that is less complex than an atom; regarded as constituents of all matter

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

elementary particle; fundamental particle

Hypernyms ("elementary particle" is a kind of...):

particle; subatomic particle (a body having finite mass and internal structure but negligible dimensions)

Domain category:

natural philosophy; physics (the science of matter and energy and their interactions)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "elementary particle"):

antilepton (the antiparticle of a lepton)

antiparticle (a particle that has the same mass as another particle but has opposite values for its other properties; interaction of a particle and its antiparticle results in annihilation and the production of radiant energy)

antiquark (the antiparticle of a quark)

hadron (any elementary particle that interacts strongly with other particles)

lepton (an elementary particle that participates in weak interactions; has a baryon number of 0)

quark ((physics) hypothetical truly fundamental particle in mesons and baryons; there are supposed to be six flavors of quarks (and their antiquarks), which come in pairs; each has an electric charge of +2/3 or -1/3)

strange particle (an elementary particle with non-zero strangeness)

cosmic string; string ((cosmology) a hypothetical one-dimensional subatomic particle having a concentration of energy and the dynamic properties of a flexible loop)

weakly interacting massive particle; WIMP (a hypothetical subatomic particle of large mass that interacts weakly with ordinary matter through gravitation; postulated as a constituent of the dark matter of the universe)

Holonyms ("elementary particle" is a part of...):

atom ((physics and chemistry) the smallest component of an element having the chemical properties of the element)

 Context examples 

An elementary particle with 0 charge and a mass about equal to that of a proton.

(Neutron, NCI Thesaurus)

Stable elementary particles having the smallest known negative charge, present in all elements; also called negatrons.

(Electron, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)