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nucleon

American  
[noo-klee-on, nyoo-] / ˈnu kliˌɒn, ˈnju- /

noun

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


nucleon British  
/ ˈnjuːklɪˌɒn /

noun

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

"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

nucleon Scientific  
/ no̅o̅′klē-ŏn′ /
  1. A proton or a neutron, especially as part of an atomic nucleus.


Other Word Forms


Etymology

Origin of nucleon

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


Vocabulary lists containing nucleon

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:

Models that include only traditional two nucleon interactions fail to produce the observed structure.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 8, 2026

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

From Science Daily ● Mar. 8, 2026

The electrons in that beam slammed into the target's protons, exciting its internal quarks until the proton began to ring like a bell with nucleon resonance.

From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2023

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 larger nucleus has a greater binding energy and less mass per nucleon than the two that combined.

From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015

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