baryon

noun

bary·​on ˈber-ē-ˌän 

ˈba-rē-

: any of a group of subatomic particles (such as nucleons) that are subject to the strong force and are composed of three quarks

baryonic

ˌber-ē-ˈä-nik 

ˌba-rē-

adjective

Examples of baryon in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But the rest of the universe is made of cosmic baryons, or ordinary matter, which can be found in tiny particles called protons and neutrons. —Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 16 June 2025

Those ripples, or bubbles, are known as baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO). —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 19 Mar. 2025

Some of it would be in the form of baryons, meaning protons and neutrons—the stuff of you, me and our laptops, as well as of planets, galaxies and everything else accessible to telescopes. —Richard Panek, Scientific American, 1 Dec. 2023

This sparked the missing baryon problem. —Popular Science, 31 May 2020

Word History

Etymology

Greek barýs "heavy" + -on entry 2; so named from their greater mass relative to other subatomic particles known at the time — more at grave entry 2

Note: The name was introduced by the Dutch-American physicist Abraham Pais (1918-2000) in "On the Baryon-Meson-Photon," Progress of Theoretical Physics, vol. 10, No. 4 (October, 1953), pp. 457-69. The substance of the paper was presented at the International Conference on Theoretical Physics held in Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan in September of 1953.

First Known Use

1953, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for baryon

• aileron
• antiphon
• autobahn
• carillon
• castellan
• celadon
• cephalon
• chitosan
• cynodon
• denouement
• deuteron
• echelon