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 something2archaic : a clause or article of a composition or document3: 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

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