Main Entry: par·ti·cle

Pronunciation: \ˈpär-ti-kəl\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Latin particula, from diminutive of part-, pars

Date: 14th century

1 a : a minute quantity or fragment b : a relatively small or the smallest discrete portion or amount of something
2 archaic : a clause or article of a composition or document
3 : any of the basic units of matter and energy (as a molecule, atom, proton, electron, or photon)
4 : a unit of speech expressing some general aspect of meaning or some connective or limiting relation and including the articles, most prepositions and conjunctions, and some interjections and adverbs <the particle up has a perfective meaning in phrases such as beat up and cut up>
5 : a small eucharistic wafer distributed to a Roman Catholic layman at Communion