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.

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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

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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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• interparticle
  adjective
• particled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• particles
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of particle

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

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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

As AI agents process the mass of data emerging from particle accelerators, the cosmos and the natural world, how do we know they are getting it right?

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026

Telescopes and particle accelerators, for example, collect billions of data points – too large for the brain to comprehend.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026

“The ‘particles’ of particle physics,” Mr. Rovelli explains, “are not particles like grains of sand: the very notion of a particle is a metaphor.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

"However, every single particle has a different structure," warns Weissenborn, "and our experiment only studied six such particles from two different locations."

From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2026

“Step two,” said Twycross, “focus your determination to occupy the visualized space! Let your yearning to enter it flood from your mind to every particle of your body!”

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling

"The findings give us new insight into how these types of particles behave. This could therefore become important for the development of more energy-efficient computer technology in the future," said Sudbø.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2026

The researchers suggest that the growing gas giant acted somewhat like a structural barrier, preventing most larger particles from crossing its orbital region while still allowing finer dust to move around it.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026

“The ‘particles’ of particle physics,” Mr. Rovelli explains, “are not particles like grains of sand: the very notion of a particle is a metaphor.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

One attempt was string theory, which regarded particles as vibrations of tiny strands in space, with one kind causing gravity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

A wave of ice particles swept over him, coating him like a glazed donut and freezing him in place.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

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Related Words

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

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