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  • fermi
    fermi
    noun
    a unit of length, 10− 15 m, used in measuring nuclear distances. F
  • Fermi
    Fermi
    noun
    Enrico 1901–54, Italian physicist, in the U.S. after 1939: Nobel Prize 1938.

fermi

1 American  
[fur-mee, fer-mee] / ˈfɜr mi, ˈfɛr mi /

noun

Physics.
  1. a unit of length, 10− 15 m, used in measuring nuclear distances. F


Fermi 2 American  
[fur-mee, fer-mee] / ˈfɜr mi, ˈfɛr mi /

noun

  1. Enrico 1901–54, Italian physicist, in the U.S. after 1939: Nobel Prize 1938.


Fermi 1 British  
/ ˈfɜːmɪ, ˈfɛrmi /

noun

  1. Enrico (enˈriːko). 1901-54, Italian nuclear physicist, in the US from 1939. He was awarded a Nobel prize for physics in 1938 for his work on radioactive substances and nuclear bombardment and headed the group that produced the first controlled nuclear reaction (1942)

"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

fermi 2 British  
/ ˈfɜːmɪ /

noun

  1. a unit of length used in nuclear physics equal to 10 –15 metre

"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

Fermi Scientific  
/ fĕr′mē /
  1. Italian-born American physicist who won a 1938 Nobel Prize for his research on neutrons. In 1942, with Leo Szilard, Fermi built the world's first nuclear reactor. He also discovered over 40 new isotopes, including the element fermium, which is named for him.


Etymology

Origin of fermi

Named after E. Fermi


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.

See Examples For:

Why is it that the electron seems to have no size other than its wavelength, while the proton and neutron are about 1 fermi in size?

From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015

First, we must calculate the time Δt that the pion exists, given that the distance it travels at nearly the speed of light is about 1 fermi.

From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015

I reserve for you some canti fermi and antiphons, which I wrote down at the time, and my little book describes the order of the various services and the meaning of the different ceremonies.

From Letters of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy from Italy and Switzerland by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

At very low temperatures, this arrangement produces what physicists call a Fermi sea.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 18, 2026

The current publication establishes the theoretical framework for fractional Fermi seas.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 18, 2026

In very pure metals, these Landau levels can repeatedly pass through the Fermi level, the energy boundary between occupied and unoccupied electronic states.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 5, 2026

Fermi wouldn’t be required to commit money or issue debt to build the plant but would have the option to buy it in a decade.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Fermi used graphite to slow down the speed- ing neutrons—he knew that neutrons would bounce off the carbon atoms that make up graphite and lose speed.

From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin

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