particle

[ pahr-ti-kuhl ]
/ ˈpɑr tɪ kəl /

noun

a minute portion, piece, fragment, or amount; a tiny or very small bit: a particle of dust; not a particle of supporting evidence.
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.
a clause or article, as of a document.
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.
Roman Catholic Church. a small piece of the Host given to each lay communicant in a Eucharistic service.

Origin of particle

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Latin word particula. See part, -i-, -cle1

SYNONYMS FOR particle

1 mite, whit, iota, jot, tittle, grain, speck.

OTHER WORDS FROM particle

par·ti·cled, adjective in·ter·par·ti·cle, adjective

Words nearby particle

participation, participatory democracy, participial, participialize, participle, particle, particle accelerator, particle beam, particle beam weapon, particle board, particle physics

British Dictionary definitions for inter-particle

particle
/ (ˈpɑːtɪkəl) /

noun

Word Origin for particle

C14: from Latin particula a small part, from pars part

Medical definitions for inter-particle

particle
[ pär′tĭ-kəl ]

n.

A very small piece or part.
An elementary particle.
A subatomic particle.

Scientific definitions for inter-particle

particle
[ pär′tĭ-kəl ]

A very small piece of solid matter.
An elementary particle, subatomic particle, or atomic nucleus. Also called corpuscle