particle

American  

[pahr-ti-kuhl] / ˈpɑr tɪ kəl /

noun

• particles
  plural

1. a minute portion, piece, fragment, or amount; a tiny or very small bit.

   a particle of dust; not a particle of supporting evidence.

   Synonyms:

   speck, grain, tittle, jot, iota, whit, mite

2. Physics.

   1. one of the extremely small constituents of matter, as an atom or nucleus.

   2. an elementary particle, quark, or gluon.

   3. a body in which the internal motion is negligible.

3. a clause or article, as of a document.

4. Grammar.

   1. (in some languages) one of the major form classes, or parts of speech, consisting of words that are neither nouns nor verbs, or of all uninflected words, or the like.

   2. such a word.

   3. a small word of functional or relational use, as an article, preposition, or conjunction, whether of a separate form class or not.

5. Roman Catholic Church. a small piece of the Host given to each lay communicant in a Eucharistic service.

---

particle British  

/ ˈpɑːtɪkəl /

noun

1. an extremely small piece of matter; speck

2. a very tiny amount; iota

   it doesn't make a particle of difference

3. a function word, esp (in certain languages) a word belonging to an uninflected class having suprasegmental or grammatical function

   the Greek particles ``mēn'' and ``de'' are used to express contrast

   questions in Japanese are indicated by the particle ``ka''

   English ``up'' is sometimes regarded as an adverbial particle

4. a common affix, such as re-, un-, or -ness

5. physics a body with finite mass that can be treated as having negligible size, and internal structure

6. See elementary particle

7. RC Church a small piece broken off from the Host at Mass

8. archaic a section or clause of a document

---

particle Scientific  

/ pär′tĭ-kəl /

1. A very small piece of solid matter.

2. An elementary particle, subatomic particle, or atomic nucleus.

3. Also called corpuscle

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• interparticle
  adjective
• particled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• particles
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of particle

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Latin word particula. See part, -i-, -cle ¹

---

Explanation

A particle is a small piece of anything. Particle can also refer to a subatomic particle with mass and structure, but takes up hardly any space at all. Particles are tiny. If you mean a subatomic particle, that's a body that you can't see because it is so incredibly small, though it does have a miniscule mass and internal structure. These particles are even smaller than atoms. You can also say a crumb or speck of something is a particle. Dust particles are piling up all the time, and vacuuming cleans up lots of particles. Those particles are little bits of things. In both cases, particles are very tiny.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

particle particles

Such models are particularly important in particle physics and high-energy physics, where scientists study the basic particles and interactions that make up the universe.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

In 1959, physicists Yakir Aharonov and David Bohm predicted that a charged particle could be affected by magnetic flux even if it traveled entirely outside the region containing the magnetic field.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

Rather than experiencing a conventional magnetic force along its path, the particle would undergo a change in its quantum phase.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

The Belgian particle physicist helped build an observatory deep in the Antarctic ice.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

Smaller and smaller went the details of her vision, until she could see each particle, spinning around itself like a tiny galaxy.

From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill

Researchers at the University of Oxford have observed virus-like particles assembling themselves one molecule at a time, uncovering the surprisingly simple rules that allow complex biological structures to form with remarkable reliability.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026

Known as the Carrington Event, the powerful solar storm involved a massive solar flare and a coronal mass ejection, an enormous eruption of charged particles and magnetic fields from the Sun.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 21, 2026

Known as quantum emitters, these tiny systems can produce single particles of light called photons, store quantum information, and help establish quantum connections between distant systems.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 20, 2026

Inside a glove box filled with protective nitrogen gas, team members sealed individual rock particles in airtight containers.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 20, 2026

Furthermore, as two particles merge, no longer do they meet at a pointlike singularity; they form a nice, smooth, continuous surface in space-time.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• fleck
• fragment
• grain
• mite
• molecule
• ray
• speck

---