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• ion
  ion

  noun

  an electrically charged atom or group of atoms formed by the loss or gain of one or more electrons, as a cation positive ion, which is created by electron loss and is attracted to the cathode in electrolysis, or as an anion negative ion, which is created by an electron gain and is attracted to the anode. The valence of an ion is equal to the number of electrons lost or gained and is indicated by a plus sign for cations and a minus sign for anions, thus: Na + , Cl−, Ca ++ , S = .
• Ion
  Ion

  noun

  the eponymous ancestor of the Ionians: a son of Apollo and Creusa who is abandoned by his mother but returns to become an attendant in Apollo's temple at Delphi.
• -ion
  -ion

  a suffix, appearing in words of Latin origin, denoting action or condition, used in Latin and in English to form nouns from stems of Latin adjectives (communion; union ), verbs (legion; opinion ), and especially past participles (allusion; creation; fusion; notion; torsion ).
• Ion.
  Ion.

  abbreviation

  Ionic.

SEE ALSO:

Slang dictionary results for ion.

ion

¹ American  

[ahy-uhn, ahy-on] / ˈaɪ ən, ˈaɪ ɒn /

noun

Physics, Chemistry.

ions plural

1. an electrically charged atom or group of atoms formed by the loss or gain of one or more electrons, as a cation positive ion, which is created by electron loss and is attracted to the cathode in electrolysis, or as an anion negative ion, which is created by an electron gain and is attracted to the anode. The valence of an ion is equal to the number of electrons lost or gained and is indicated by a plus sign for cations and a minus sign for anions, thus: Na + , Cl−, Ca ++ , S = .

2. one of the electrically charged particles formed in a gas by electric discharge or the like.

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Ion ² American  

[ahy-on] / ˈaɪ ɒn /

noun

1. Classical Mythology. the eponymous ancestor of the Ionians: a son of Apollo and Creusa who is abandoned by his mother but returns to become an attendant in Apollo's temple at Delphi.

2. (italics) a drama on this subject (415? b.c.) by Euripides.

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-ion ³ American  

1. a suffix, appearing in words of Latin origin, denoting action or condition, used in Latin and in English to form nouns from stems of Latin adjectives (communion; union ), verbs (legion; opinion ), and especially past participles (allusion; creation; fusion; notion; torsion ).

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Ion. ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. Ionic.

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ion ¹ British  

/ ˈaɪən, -ɒn /

noun

1. an electrically charged atom or group of atoms formed by the loss or gain of one or more electrons See also cation anion

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-ion ² British  

suffix

1. indicating an action, process, or state Compare -ation -tion

   creation

   objection

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ion Scientific  

/ ī′ən,ī′ŏn′ /

1. An atom or a group of atoms that has an electric charge. Positive ions, or cations, are formed by the loss of electrons; negative ions, or anions, are formed by the gain of electrons.

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ion Cultural  

1. An atom that has either lost or gained one or more electrons, so that it has an electrical charge. Ions can be either positively or negatively charged.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ion¹

< Greek ión going, neuter present participle of iénai to go; term introduced by Michael Faraday in 1834

Origin of -ion³

< Latin -iōn- (stem of -iō ) suffix forming nouns, especially on past participle stems; replacing Middle English -ioun < Anglo-French < Latin -iōn-

Explanation

An ion is an atom or particle with a positive or negative electrical charge. Think of an ion as having a plus or minus sign. Ion is a word you are most likely to encounter in a physics or chemistry text. But you don’t have to be a chemist or physicist to understand the concept. If you had a neutral particle and you were able to remove or add an electron, then you would have an ion — a charged particle. Don't confuse the tiny ion with the similar word eon, which is an extremely long period of time.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ion Ion Ion. ions

But we found no evidence that bacteria influenced sodium transport or ion balance.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 29, 2026

A spokesman for Centcom told the BBC that the crew members were rescued by an unmanned surface drone that was operated by Task Force 59, a Bahrain-based unit launched ion 2024.

From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026

The paper, titled "Quantum signatures of proper time in optical ion clocks," appeared April 20, 2026 in Physical Review Letters.

From Science Daily ● May 18, 2026

To verify their results, the team reconstructed the quantum motion of the trapped ion.

From Science Daily ● May 1, 2026

"They rotate the ship. They're not made for thrusting it. Hermes doesn't have quick-reaction engines. Just the slow, steady ion engines."

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

Ion is tailored for procedures in the lung, typically to sample suspicious nodules or legions as part of a cancer diagnosis.

From Barron's ● Apr. 21, 2026

"These magnons can transmit information through a magnet without the need for charge transport," explains project leader Dr. Helmut Schultheiß from the Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research at HZDR.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 27, 2026

Games will also air on Ion and USA Network.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026

Over the summer, for example, Scripps signed a fresh multiyear media-rights agreement to carry Friday night Women’s National Basketball Association matchups on its Ion network.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025

He told her that his name was Ion, but that he did not know where he had come from.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

In the first place, the Portuguese, who discovered that island in 1506, and explored its coasts in the following years, could not have Ion. remained in ignorance of De Gonneville's voyage.

From The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888 by Favenc, Ernest

However, evidence suggests the particles, which were initially designed to carry imaging agents, can collect positively charged iron ions from the bloodstream and transport them into tumor cells.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026

Scientists also recorded higher levels of other firework-related pollutants, including fine particulate matter and sulfate and potassium ions.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 4, 2026

Trapped ions, as the name suggests, are suspended in vacuums and manipulated by lasers.

From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026

When connected to a battery, an electric charge is applied to ions within the liquid.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 10, 2026

Quang-ha then mutters: "What's really being measured are ions of hydrogen."

From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan