quanta

American

[kwon-tuh] / ˈkwɒn tə /

noun

the plural of quantum.

quanta British

/ ˈkwɒntə /

noun

the plural of quantum

"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

quanta Cultural

sing. quantum In physics, discrete bundles in which radiation and other forms of energy occur. For example, in the Bohr atom, light is sent out in quanta called photons. (See quantum mechanics.)

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.

At wide-open throttle, the raunchiness doesn’t come in wild quanta but in one smoothly linear, incredibly steep exponential function, with no interval for tactility and feedback.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 30, 2025

The aim of the physicists in Düsseldorf was to measure the frequency of the required radiation quanta as precisely as possible and they achieved an unprecedented level of accuracy in their experiments.

From Science Daily • Feb. 27, 2024

Quantum theory typically deals with the universe in tiny chunks, or quanta, while general relativity takes the cosmos to be continuous even at the smallest scales.

From Scientific American • Aug. 19, 2023

Quantum mechanics describes how, in the subatomic realm, everything is broken up in discrete chunks, or quanta, such as the individual particles of light called photons.

From New York Times • May 8, 2023

They vibrate only with certain acceptable energies, called quanta.

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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023