nucleon

American  

[noo-klee-on, nyoo-] / ˈnu kliˌɒn, ˈnyu- /

noun

Physics.

1. a proton or neutron, especially when considered as a component of a nucleus.

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nucleon British  

/ ˈnjuːklɪˌɒn /

noun

1. a proton or neutron, esp one present in an atomic nucleus

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nucleon Scientific  

/ no̅o̅′klē-ŏn′ /

1. A proton or a neutron, especially as part of an atomic nucleus.

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Other Word Forms

• internucleon adjective
• internucleonic adjective
• nucleonic adjective

Etymology

Origin of nucleon

First recorded in 1935–40; nucle(us) + -on ¹

Example Sentences

The researchers also found that these results cannot be reproduced without accounting for three nucleon forces.

From Science Daily • Mar. 8, 2026

The high-speed motion of orbiting sensors increases the coupling between axion halos and nucleon spins, producing a tenfold sensitivity improvement compared with Earth-based dark matter searches.

From Science Daily • Dec. 6, 2025

We couldn't see them ringing in a state of nucleon resonances, with their quarks going wild in high-energy vibration against each other.

From Salon • Sep. 1, 2023

The team's research, published this month in the journal Physical Review Letters, has finally shed the first light on how these nucleon resonances work at their core.

From Salon • Sep. 1, 2023

In larger nuclei, the range of the nuclear force, shown for a single nucleon, is smaller than the size of the nucleus, but the Coulomb repulsion from all protons reaches all others.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015