lepton
1an aluminum coin of modern Greece until the euro was adopted, one 100th of a drachma.
a small copper or bronze coin of ancient Greece.
Origin of lepton
1Words Nearby lepton
Other definitions for lepton (2 of 2)
any of a class of particles with spin of ½ that are not subject to the strong force and that are believed to be truly elementary and not composed of quarks or other subunits. The leptons known or believed to exist are the electron and electron-neutrino, the muon and mu-neutrino, and the tau lepton and tau-neutrino.
Origin of lepton
2Other words from lepton
- lep·ton·ic, adjective
- Compare conservation of lepton number.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use lepton in a sentence
There are also “antimatter partners” of all quarks and leptons which are identical particles apart from an opposite charge.
CERN: How We’re Probing the Universe’s Origins Using Record Precision Measurements | Martha Hilton | June 24, 2021 | Singularity HubElectrons and their heavier relatives, muons and taus, are leptons, as are a trio of lightweight particles called neutrinos.
How matter’s hidden complexity unleashed the power of nuclear physics | Emily Conover | April 8, 2021 | Science NewsNow let’s turn to the leptons, the other kind of matter particles.
A New Map of All the Particles and Forces | Natalie Wolchover, Samuel Velasco and Lucy Reading-Ikkanda | October 22, 2020 | Quanta MagazineLeptons in different generations also occasionally interact in this manner.
A New Map of All the Particles and Forces | Natalie Wolchover, Samuel Velasco and Lucy Reading-Ikkanda | October 22, 2020 | Quanta MagazineA lepton is a very small brass Jewish coin worth half a Roman quadrans each, which is worth a quarter of the copper assarion.
The smallest copper coin in use among the Jews, the lepton, called in Hebrew chalcous, "copper money."
The Rand-McNally Bible Atlas | Jesse L. Hurlbutlepton, lep′ton, n. the smallest of modern Greek coins, 100 to the drachma.
The game was thus played in 1810, and is so still, both here and at lepton.
The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland (Vol I of II) | Alice Bertha Gomme
British Dictionary definitions for lepton (1 of 2)
/ (ˈlɛptɒn) /
a former Greek monetary unit worth one hundredth of a drachma
a small coin of ancient Greece
Origin of lepton
1British Dictionary definitions for lepton (2 of 2)
/ (ˈlɛptɒn) /
physics any of a group of elementary particles and their antiparticles, such as an electron, muon, or neutrino, that participate in electromagnetic and weak interactions and have a half-integral spin
Origin of lepton
2Derived forms of lepton
- leptonic, adjective
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
Scientific definitions for lepton
[ lĕp′tŏn′ ]
Any of a family of elementary particles that interact through the weak force and do not participate in the strong force. Leptons include electrons, muons, tau particles, and their respective neutrinos, the electron neutrino, the muon neutrino, and the tau neutrino. The antiparticles of these six particles are also leptons. Compare hadron. See Note at elementary particle. See Table at subatomic particle.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for lepton
[ (lep-ton) ]
Any one of six elementary particles that are one of the fundamental constituents of matter. Leptons are not affected by the strong force and are not normally found in the nucleus of the atom. The electron and the neutrino are examples of leptons.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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