Eightfold Way

noun

, Physics.

1. a scheme for classifying hadrons according to a symmetry principle based on strangeness and isotopic spin: a forerunner of the quark model.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Eightfold Way¹

1925–30; so named because hadrons with low mass and spin form groups of eight; with jocular allusion to the Eightfold Way of Buddhism ( Eightfold Path )