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baryon

American  
[bar-ee-on] / ˈbær iˌɒn /

noun

Physics.
  1. a proton, neutron, or any elementary particle that decays into a set of particles that includes a proton.


baryon British  
/ ˈbærɪˌɒn /

noun

  1. any of a class of elementary particles that have a mass greater than or equal to that of the proton, participate in strong interactions, and have a spin of 1/ 2 . Baryons are either nucleons or hyperons. The baryon number is the number of baryons in a system minus the number of antibaryons

"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

baryon Scientific  
/ bărē-ŏn′ /
  1. Any of a family of subatomic particles composed of three quarks or three antiquarks. They are generally more massive than mesons, and interact with each other via the strong force. Baryons form a subclass of hadrons and are subdivided into nucleons and hyperons. Protons and neutrons are baryons.

  2. See Table at subatomic particle


Other Word Forms

  • baryonic adjective

Etymology

Origin of baryon

1950–55; < Greek barý ( s ) heavy + (fermi)on

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.

However, interest in evolving dark energy was vigorously rekindled last year from the combination of supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillation, and cosmic microwave background data from the DES, DESI, and Planck experiments.

From Science Daily

Among those particles were hydrogen and helium nuclei, collectively called baryons.

From Science Daily

Sound waves reverberated through the gas like ripples in a pond, causing baryons to clump together, forming the seeds of future galaxies and clusters of galaxies.

From Science Magazine

BAO stands for “baryon acoustic oscillation,” a sort of frozen sound wave created by processes near the dawn of time.

From Scientific American

It is believed to be a baryon acoustic oscillation, a pressure wave frozen in time from the beginning of the cosmos and then stretched out to galactic scales by the universe’s expansion.

From Scientific American