quark

Meaning

1. In the Standard Model, an elementary subatomic particle that forms matter. They combine to form hadrons, such as protons and neutrons.
2. An integer that uniquely identifies a text string.

Synonyms

quark cheese

fromage frais

curds

cottage cheese

farmer's cheese

hadron

soft cheese

squark

Pronounced as (IPA)

/kwɔːk/

Etymology

Cognate with Polish: twaróg

In summary

Coined by American physicist Murray Gell-Mann in 1963. The literary connection to James Joyce's Finnegans Wake was asserted later; see the Quark Wikipedia article.