quark

American  

[kwawrk, kwahrk] / kwɔrk, kwɑrk /

noun

• quarks
  plural

1. 

   Physics. any of the particles with spin 1/2, baryon number 1/3, and electric charge 1/3 or −2/3 that, together with their antiparticles, are believed to constitute all the elementary particles classed as baryons and mesons; they are distinguished by their flavors, designated as up (u), down (d), strange (s), charm (c), bottom or beauty (b), and top or truth (t), and their colors, red, green, and blue.

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quark ¹ British  

/ kwɑːk /

noun

1. physics any of a set of six hypothetical elementary particles together with their antiparticles thought to be fundamental units of all baryons and mesons but unable to exist in isolation. The magnitude of their charge is either two thirds or one third of that of the electron

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quark ² British  

/ kwɑːk /

noun

1. a type of low-fat soft cheese

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quark Scientific  

/ kwôrk,kwärk /

1. Any of a group of elementary particles supposed to be the fundamental units that combine to make up the subatomic particles known as hadrons (baryons, such as neutrons and protons, and mesons). There are six different flavors (or types) of quark: up quark, down quark, top quark, bottom quark, charm quark, and strange quark. Quarks have fractional electric charges, such as 1/3 the charge of an electron.

2. See Note at elementary particle See Table at subatomic particle

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• quarks
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of quark

Coined in 1963 by U.S. physicist Murray Gell-Mann (1929–2019), who associated it with a word in Joyce's Finnegans Wake, read variously as English quark croak and German Quark curd, (slang) rubbish, tripe

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Explanation

A quark is an elementary particle with an electric charge. When quarks combine, they form another type of particle called a "hadron." If you want to learn more, take up particle physics. Quarks are held together by what physicists call "the strong force" or "the strong nuclear force." The most stable of these quark combinations, or hadrons, are protons and neutrons — the basic building blocks of atoms. In the 1960s, a physicist named Murray Gell-Mann named these particles from a favorite made-up word in James Joyce's book Finnegan's Wake: quark. Gell-Mann's partner reportedly preferred the word ace.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

quark quarks

One of these is a sub-atomic particle - smaller than an atom - called a beauty quark.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

Researchers also looked for another distinctive signature of QGP involving particles made from a heavy quark and its corresponding antiquark.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026

These often originate when a quark or gluon from one nucleus strikes a quark or gluon from another, sending two particle jets traveling in opposite directions.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026

"It has been a long debate in our field, on whether the plasma should respond to a quark," says Yen-Jie Lee, professor of physics at MIT.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

What happens is that a matter particle, such as an electron or a quark, emits a force-carrying particle.

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

Some theories suggest that at these scales particles are more sensitive to dark matter and it could influence how the quarks interact and break down.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

When particles with intermediate momenta emerge from this plasma, they can inherit collective motion from the quarks that make them up.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026

Because baryons contain three quarks while mesons contain only two, baryons can inherit more of this flow, producing the difference observed in the experiment.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026

Almost immediately, the quarks and gluons recombine into more familiar particles.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026

They also allow the reverse processes, antiquarks turning into electrons, and electrons and antielectrons turning into antiquarks and quarks.

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

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