CERN

American  

1. European Laboratory for Particle Physics; formerly called European Organization for Nuclear Research: an international research organization based in Geneva, Switzerland.

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CERN British  

/ sɜːn /

acronym

1. Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire; an organization of European states with a centre in Geneva for research in high-energy particle physics, now called the European Laboratory for Particle Physics

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CERN Cultural  

1. An acronym for French words meaning European Center for Nuclear Research. Supported by a consortium of European countries, CERN is an advanced scientific research institute in Geneva, Switzerland. It is one of the premier locations for particle physics research.

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After the year 2007, CERN will be the location of the world's largest particle accelerator.

Etymology

Origin of CERN

< French, for C ( onseil ) e ( uropéen pour la ) r ( echerche ) n ( ucléaire )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

CERN

After graduating in 2003, Roberts pursued a Ph.D. in theoretical physics at the University of Southampton and studied dark matter at CERN, the Swiss nuclear research center.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026

It is based on the documentary of the same name about the discovery of the Higgs boson — the “God particle” — at the Large Hadron Collider in CERN.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

The world wide web was created at CERN, while proton therapy grew from advances in particle accelerators and radiation physics.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026

The British physicist-turned-computer scientist conceived the web in 1989 while working at CERN, the European particle physics lab in Switzerland.

From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026

While consulting for CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland, he created the World Wide Web and posted the first Web site in 1991.

From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman