particle

Meaning

1. A very small piece of matter, a fragment; especially, the smallest possible part of something.
2. Any of various physical objects making up the constituent parts of an atom; an elementary particle or subatomic particle.
3. A part of speech that has no inherent lexical definition but must be associated with another word to impart meaning, often a grammatical category: for example, the English word to in a full infinitive phrase (to eat) or O in a vocative phrase (O Canada), or as a discourse marker (mmm).
4. A part of speech which cannot be inflected.
5. In the Roman Catholic church, a crumb of consecrated bread; also the smaller breads used in the communion of the laity.
6. A little bit.

Synonyms

grain

atom

speck

fragment

bit

dust

corpuscle

molecule

conjunction

mote

iota

whit

powder

piece

conjunctive

crumb

subatomic particle

element

elementary particle

granule

dirt

part

jot

particulate

postposition

scrap

small piece

auxiliary word

material point

post-positional particle

meet

minimum

mite

modicum

drop

morsel

dot

numerator

ounce

participle

particle size

connective word

partitive case

pebble

pellet

cinders

pinch

point

material particle

chunk

Translations

particule

partícula

Partikel

particella

Teilchen

partícula

σωματίδιο

deeltje

partícula

μόριο

partikel

particola

parçacık

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈpɑːtɪk(ə)l/

Etymology

From Middle French particule, and its source, Latin particula (“small part, particle”), diminutive of pars (“part, piece”).