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  • Rutherford
    Rutherford
    noun
    Daniel, 1749–1819, Scottish physician and chemist: discoverer of nitrogen.
  • rutherford
    rutherford
    noun
    a unit of activity equal to the quantity of a radioactive nuclide required to produce one million disintegrations per second

Rutherford

American  
[ruhth-er-ferd, ruhth-] / ˈrʌð ər fərd, ˈrʌθ- /

noun

  1. Daniel, 1749–1819, Scottish physician and chemist: discoverer of nitrogen.

  2. Ernest 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson, 1871–1937, English physicist, born in New Zealand: Nobel Prize in chemistry 1908.

  3. John Sherman Johnny, born 1938, U.S. racing-car driver.

  4. Joseph Franklin, 1869–1942, U.S. leader of Jehovah's Witnesses.

  5. Dame Margaret, 1892–1972, British actress.

  6. a city in NE New Jersey.


rutherford 1 British  
/ ˈrʌðəfəd /

noun

  1. rd. a unit of activity equal to the quantity of a radioactive nuclide required to produce one million disintegrations per second

"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

Rutherford 2 British  
/ ˈrʌðəfəd /

noun

  1. Ernest , 1st Baron. 1871–1937, British physicist, born in New Zealand, who discovered the atomic nucleus (1909). Nobel prize for chemistry 1908

  2. Dame Margaret . 1892–1972, British stage and screen actress. Her films include Passport to Pimlico (1949), Murder She Said (1962), and The VIPs (1963)

  3. Mark , original name William Hale White . 1831–1913, British novelist and writer, whose work deals with his religious uncertainties: best known for The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford (1881) and the novel The Revolution in Tanner's Lane (1887)

"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

Rutherford Scientific  
/ rŭth′ər-fərd /
  1. New Zealand-born British physicist who was a pioneer of subatomic physics. He discovered the atomic nucleus and named the proton. Rutherford demonstrated that radioactive elements give off three types of rays, which he named alpha, beta, and gamma, and invented the term half-life to measure the rate of radioactive decay. For this work he was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1908.


Etymology

Origin of rutherford

C20: named after Ernest Rutherford


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.

See Examples For:

Fraser Rutherford, head of marketing at Environment Bank, said for pupils, it was a "rare opportunity to follow nature restoration throughout their school years and see firsthand how native wildlife returns to a landscape".

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

Meanwhile: The fictional Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza from the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” videogames and movies is getting a real-life location at the American Dream shopping mall in East Rutherford, N.J., complete with animatronic stage shows.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

The sky above the open-air stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., was noticeably clearer Friday and could improve even more with the heavy rains forecast for Saturday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026

This one, ordinarily known as the MetLife, has more than 78,000 seats in the district of East Rutherford.

From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026

She was face to face with Courtney Rutherford Hopkins.

From "The Great Gilly Hopkins" by Katherine Paterson

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