Penzias

American  

[pent-see-uhs, pen-zee-] / ˈpɛnt si əs, ˈpɛn zi- /

noun

1. Arno Allan, 1933–2024, U.S. astrophysicist, born in Germany: Nobel Prize in Physics 1978.

---

Penzias British  

/ ˈpɛntsɪəs, ˈpɛnz- /

noun

1. Arno Allan. born 1933, US astrophysicist, who shared the Nobel prize for physics (1978) with Robert W. Wilson for their discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation

---

Example Sentences

In the 1960s Stephen Hawking demonstrated the Big Bang in theory, while Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson had detected the background radiation that proved decisive evidence of the event.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

Arno Penzias at Bell Labs won the Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering “cosmic microwave background radiation” from the Big Bang.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026

Years back, one of its Nobel laureates, Arno Penzias, told me: “You have to understand, this was a problem-rich environment.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026

In 1992, Dr. Penzias arranged for the donation of the Holmdel Horn’s receiver and calibration equipment to the Deutsches Museum in Munich, where it remains as part of a permanent exhibition.

From New York Times • Jan. 22, 2024

Penzias and Wilson were worried when they found that their detector was picking up more noise than it ought to.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking