particle

noun par·ti·cle \ ˈpär-ti-kəl \

|Updated on: 9 Jul 2018

Definition of particle

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 (such 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

See particle defined for English-language learners

See particle defined for kids

Examples of particle in a Sentence

There is not a particle of evidence to support their claim.
There is not a particle of truth in what he said.
The phrasal verb “look up” consists of the verb “look” and the adverbial particle “up.”

Recent Examples of particle from the Web

Then came several minutes of nucleosynthesis, when these subatomic particles fused to form the nuclei of the first atoms — mostly hydrogen and helium.

— dan falk /, NBC News, "What is the Big Bang theory?," 9 June 2018
But microscopic silicon particles have been emerging as a more efficient replacement for graphite–and at least one company thinks this technology will come to market within the next year.

— lauren goode, WIRED, "Batteries Still Suck, But Researchers Are Working on It," 22 May 2018
Fine ash particles are generally a millimeter or less in size.

— heidi chang, latimes.com, "New eruption at Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano sends up 30,000-foot ash plume; residents told to ‘shelter in place’," 18 May 2018
Hypothesized by Ettore Majorana in 1937, this particle is its own antiparticle.

— neil savage, Scientific American, "What Are the Limits of Manipulating Nature?," 8 May 2018
But particles are much more lethal at that than ozone.

— kevin spear, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Lake County has least healthy air in Central Florida, American Lung Association says," 8 May 2018
Lysozyme particles are anti-bacterial enzymes in egg whites, which help protect the yolk from foreign bacteria.

— shannon barbour, The Cut, "This K-Beauty Egg Cleanser and Clay Mask Will Give You Clear Skin," 23 Apr. 2018
The Guardian reports that pollen particles were also in the mix.

— elaina zachos, National Geographic, "Why Snow in Eastern Europe Is Turning Orange," 26 Mar. 2018
These tiny, electrically neutral particles are shy to a fault.

— devin powell, Discover Magazine, "Portable Detector Shakes Up Neutrino World," 24 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'particle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of particle

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

particle Synonyms

Synonyms

ace, bit, crumb, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, hint, lick, little, mite, nip, ounce, peanuts, ray, scintilla, scruple, shade, shadow, shred, smack, smidgen (also smidgeon), snap, spark, spatter, speck, splash, spot, sprinkling, strain, streak, suspicion, tad, touch, trace;

Near Antonyms

abundance, barrel, boatload, bucket, bundle, bushel, deal, fistful, gobs, heaps, loads, lot, mass, mess, mountain, much, oodles, passel, peck, pile, plenty, potful, profusion, quantity, raft, reams, scads, stack, wad, wealth;

volume;

chunk, hunk, lump, slab;

atom, dot, fleck, flyspeck, grain, granule, molecule, morsel, mote, nubbin, patch, scrap;

dash, drop, pinch;

part, portion, section;

bite, nibble, taste;

handful, scattering, smatter, smattering;

dose, shot;

Phrases

drop in the bucket;

PARTICLE Defined for English Language Learners

particle

noun

Definition of particle for English Language Learners

: a very small piece of something
: a very small amount of something
physics : any one of the very small parts of matter (such as a molecule, atom, or electron)

PARTICLE Defined for Kids

particle

noun par·ti·cle \ ˈpär-ti-kəl \

Definition of particle for Students

: a very small bit or amount of something

a particle of sand

a particle of sense

Word Root of particle

The Latin word pars, meaning “part,” and its form partis give us the root part. Words from the Latin pars have something to do with a part, section, or portion. To participate is to take part in some activity. Anything partial involves only part of something. A particle is a tiny bit or portion of something. It is easy to see that part itself also comes directly from pars in both form and meaning.