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.
- one of the extremely small constituents of matter, as an atom or nucleus.
- an elementary particle, quark, or gluon.
- a body in which the internal motion is negligible.
a clause or article, as of a document.
Grammar.
- (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.
- such a word.
- 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
OTHER WORDS FROM particle
par·ti·cled, adjective in·ter·par·ti·cle, adjectiveWords nearby particle
Example sentences from the Web for particle
British Dictionary definitions for particle
particle
/ (ˈpɑːtɪkəl) /
noun
Word Origin for particle
C14: from Latin
particula a small part, from
pars
part
Medical definitions for particle
particle
[ pär′tĭ-kəl ]
n.
A very small piece or part.
An elementary particle.
A subatomic particle.
Scientific definitions for particle
particle
[ pär′tĭ-kəl ]
A very small piece of solid matter.
An elementary particle, subatomic particle, or atomic nucleus. Also called corpuscle