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

The baryon-junction model provides another possibility At RHIC energies, a proton contains a huge number of gluons. — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 16 Aug. 2026

After doing this, the STAR team could discern that electric charge alone cannot account for baryon-number transport. — Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 13 Aug. 2026

The team checked this directly by computing how much of each galaxy's baryon budget actually stayed bound to the system. — Paul Sutter, Space.com, 9 June 2026

Those ripples, or bubbles, are known as baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO). — ArsTechnica, 15 Apr. 2026

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

• anton
• argon
• axon
• baronne
• baton
• boron
• buisson
• bygone
• capon
• cardon
• chiffon
• coupon