Dictionary

particle en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• [-ɾə-] (General-American)
• /ˈpɑɹtək(ə)l/ (General-American)
• /ˈpɑːtɪkl̩/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (General-American) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *perh₃- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *pérh₃tis? Proto-Italic *partis Latin pars Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Proto-Italic *-kelos Latin -cula Latin particula Middle French particule English particle From Middle French particule, and its source, Latin particula (“small part, particle”), diminutive of pars (“part, piece”). Semantically displaced native Old English grot whence modern English groat.

Meanings

1. A very small piece of matter, a fragment; especially, the smallest possible part of something.
   • Be content with the knowledge that, ere the voyage had ended, both she and I were desperately and unreasoningly in love with one another. Heaven knows that I can make the admission now without one particle of vanity. 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “The Phantom Rickshaw”, in The Phantom 'Rickshaw and Other Tales, Allahabad: A.H. Wheeler and Co., page 10:
   • Not every exasperated petty bourgeois could have become Hitler, but a particle of Hitler is lodged in every exasperated petty bourgeois. 1933 December 1, Leon Trotsky, “Hitler’s National Socialism”, in The Yale Review, volume 23, number 2:
2. Any of various physical objects making up the constituent parts of an atom; an elementary particle or subatomic particle.
   • What, he asked himself, does quantum theory have to say about the familiar properties of particles such as position? 2011, Brian Cox, Jeff Forshaw, The Quantum Universe, Allen Lane, published 2011, page 55:
   • The physics of elementary particles in the 20th century was distinguished by the observation of particles whose existence had been predicted by theorists sometimes decades earlier. 2012 March-April, Jeremy Bernstein, “A Palette of Particles”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 146:
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).
   • As for syntax and morphology, the Belter Creole can be categorized as an analytic or isolating language as it uses a high quantity of particles and does not show cases of morphological inflection. […] An interrogative particle ke is placed at the end of a question. 2021 October 5, Gessica Puccini, “Lang Belta: the Belter language from SYFY/Amazon’s The Expanse”, in Lingoblog:
   • In English there is no grammatical device to differentiate predicational judgments from nonpredicational descriptions. This distinction does cast a shadow on the grammatical sphere to some extent, but recognition of it must generally be made in semantic terms. It is maintained here that in Japanese, on the other hand, the distinction is grammatically realized through the use of the two particles wa and ga. 1965 June 4, Shigeyuki Kuroda, “Generative grammatical studies in the Japanese language”, in DSpace@MIT, retrieved 24 Feb 2014, page 38:
   • Traditional grammar typically recognises a number of further categories: for example, in his Reference Book of Terms in Traditional Grammar for Language Students, Simpson (1982) posits two additional word-level categories which he refers to as Particle, and Conjunction. Particles include the italicised words {...} / (a) He put his hat on / (b) If you pull too hard, the handle will come off / (c) He was leaning too far over the side, and fell out / (d) He went up to see the manager 1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, page 133:
4. A part of speech which cannot be inflected.
   • The Parts of Speech are the Noun (Substantive and Adjective), the Pronoun, the Verb, and the Particles (Adverb, Preposition, and Conjunction)[.] 1894 (2008), B. L. Gildersleeve & G. Lodge: Gildersleeve's Latin Grammar (reprint of the 3rd edition by Dover, 2008), p.9. (at books.google)
   • 322. The parts of speech which are neither declined nor conjugated, are called by the general name of particles. 323. They are adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. 1844, E. A. Andrews: First Lessions in Latin; or Introduction to Andrews and Stoddard's Latin Grammar. (6th edition, Boston), p.91 (at books.google)
5. In the Roman Catholic church, a crumb of consecrated bread; also the smaller breads used in the communion of the laity.
   • To receive Communion, open the mouth, letting the tongue touch the inner side of the lip, and having received the Sacred Particle on the tongue, swallow it as soon as you can, to avoid all irreverent touching of the Sacred Host with the teeth or lips. 1882, “Communion”, in The Daily Prayer-Book […] , London: Burns & Oates:
   • the Sacred Particle
6. A little bit.
   • "That doesn't make a particle of difference", replied Charlotte. "Not a particle." 1952, E.B. White, Charlotte's Web, page 89:

Forms

Deriveds

radioparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · Oh-My-God particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · particle shower (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · interparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · holoparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · Dirac particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · anti-particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · solar energetic particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · particle physics (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · particle verb (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · adparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · beta particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · alpha particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · virtual particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · angel particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · bioparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · particle energy (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · Janus particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · delta particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · sparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · multi-particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · V particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · wave-particle duality (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · paraparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · Majorana particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · particle decay (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · J/psi particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · particle mechanics (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · tau particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · modal particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · W particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · upsilon particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · particle theory (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · retroparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · α-particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · quasiparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · lipoviroparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · Z particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · K-particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · cosmoparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · geoparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · particle beam (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · astroparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · Hitler particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · particled (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · charged-particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · particle distribution function (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · gravitationally interacting massive particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · composite particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · β-particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · immunoparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · particle horizon (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · wavicle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · Planck particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · unparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · hot particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · superparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · particle zoo (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · nobiliary particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · OMG particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · antiparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · monoparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · particle beamer (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · cascade particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · charged particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · ultrafine particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · pseudoparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · weakly interacting massive particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · gamma particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · particle board (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · multiparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · particle-antiparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · supraparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · infraparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · psi particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · particle-board (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · subparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · God particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · lambda particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · strongly interacting massive particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · particle statistics (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · ribonucleoparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · super weakly interacting massive particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · wave-particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · macroparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · fundamental particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · ferroparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · adverbial particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · Higgs particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · intraparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · point particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · sentence-final particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · X17 particle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · particle accelerator (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · nanoparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms) · microparticle (unsorted - some may also be hyponyms)

Hyponyms

luxon · faster-than-light particle · superluminal particle · aspect particle · leviton · tachyonic particle · bradyon · tachyon · modal particle

Relateds

particulate · particular · part

Synonyms

sliver · crumb · soupçon · glimpse · skosh · morceau · morsel · molecule · smidget · whit · skoosh · spot · pennyworth · relish · ounce · molecule · slice · glimmer · scent · aught · continental · flyspeck · p-word · tranche · hoot · semblance · thought · scruple · strain · whiff · smidgen · shred · ooch · smidge · bissel · mite · halfpennyworth · piece · crumbling · smithereen · atom · tidbit · hunk · atom · dusting · diddly · vestige · scraplet · clip · glint · grain · dot · ort · bit · damn · skerrick · fragment · sprinkling · dab · scrap · smidgy · fleck · crumb · scintilla · sprinkle · scrap · mote · portion · jot · piece · tidge · tittle · iota · speck · smitch · bit · ace · smattering · steck · fleak · speckle · lump · flip · pinch · toddick · atomy · scantling · dash · touch · trace · flake · snippet · piecemeal · spatter · tad · chip · lick · modicum · inch · tinge · chunk · hint · snead · scooch · spark · trifle · cutting · particle · tuppence worth · drop · mammock · hooter

Translations (233)

uk ча́стка (body with very small size) · ar جُسَيْم (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · sh чѐстица (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · mi pūtūmua (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · rsk партикула (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ca partícula (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · pl cząstka (body with very small size) · sh rijèčca (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · non málfylling (part of speech that cannot be inflected) · it pezzetto (body with very small size) · ko 립자 (body with very small size) · ja 粒子 (body with very small size) · mi paku (body with very small size) · el μόριο (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ru части́ца (body with very small size) · pt partícula (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ka ნაწილაკი (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · sh чѐстица (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · ro particulă (body with very small size) · de Teilchen (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · pl partykuła (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ga cáithnín (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · th อนุภาค (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · my အမှုန်အမွှား (body with very small size) · vi trợ từ (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ia particula (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · be часьці́ца (body with very small size) · fr particule (body with very small size) · da elementarpartikel (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · ta துகள் (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · fa-ira حَرْف (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ar حَرْف (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · tr parçacık (body with very small size) · ba киҫәксә (body with very small size) · pl cząstka (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · he חֶלְקִיק (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · fr particule (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · mk честичка (body with very small size) · tl kataga (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · hi ज़र्रा (body with very small size) · tl tipik (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · bo རྡུལ་ཕྲན (body with very small size) · ga cáithnín (body with very small size) · bn কণা (body with very small size) · uk части́нка (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · lo ອະນຸພາກ (body with very small size) · ht patikil (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · et partikkel (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · mi weu (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · da partikel (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · da lille del (body with very small size) · ga mír (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · de Partikel (crumb or fragment of consecrated bread) · bg части́ца (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · es partícula (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · my အမှုန် (body with very small size) · eo partiklo (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · eo partikulo (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · rue части́ця (body with very small size) · ar أَدَاة (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ba бөртөк (body with very small size) · lo ອະນຸພາກ (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ka ნაწილაკი (body with very small size) · de Redeteilchen (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · nrf partitchule (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · hu részecske (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · hy մասնիկ (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · sv partikel (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · mi pakuriki (body with very small size) · nl deeltje (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · rsk словко (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · da partikel (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · cy geiryn (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · sw punje (body with very small size) · uk части́нка (body with very small size) · ota پارچه (body with very small size) · io partikulo (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · it granello (body with very small size) · de Partikel (body with very small size) · ga gráinnín (body with very small size) · be часці́ца (body with very small size) · et osake (body with very small size) · gd bìdeag (body with very small size) · sv partikel (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · it particella (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · th อนุภาค (body with very small size) · ru части́ца (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · sq grimcë (body with very small size) · de Partikel (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · sl delec (body with very small size) · tg ҳиссача (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · fr particule (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · fi hiukkanen (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · ml കണിക (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · ru части́ца (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ko 소립자 (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · ky бөлүкчө (body with very small size) · mi pūmahi (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · es partícula (body with very small size) · nrf partitchule (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · sh чѐстица (body with very small size) · ug زەررە (body with very small size) · fi hiukkanen (body with very small size) · ca partícula (body with very small size) · bn কণা (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · cs partikule (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · it particella (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · vi tiểu từ (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ja てにをは (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ru крупи́ца (body with very small size) · tg зарра (body with very small size) · ko 조사 (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · hi कण (body with very small size) · be часьці́ца (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · de Teilchen (body with very small size) · kk бүртік (body with very small size) · dsb partikla (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · uk части́ця (body with very small size) · el σωματίδιο (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · ky частица (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ro particulă (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · tr ilgeç (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ja 素粒子 (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · nb partikkel (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · cs částice (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · be часьці́ца (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ast partícula (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · el μόριο (body with very small size) · sw chembechembe (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · gd mion-fhacal (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · vi hạt (body with very small size) · eo partiklo (body with very small size) · uz boʻlak (body with very small size) · cs částice (body with very small size) · hu részecske (body with very small size) · sl delček (body with very small size) · cmn 助詞 /助词 (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · az zərrə (body with very small size) · es partícula (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ca partícula (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · sw chembechembe (body with very small size) · fa-ira ذَرِّه (body with very small size) · is smáorð (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ta துகள் (body with very small size) · cmn 基本粒子 (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · he גַרגִיר (body with very small size) · ar ذَرَّة (body with very small size) · lt dalelytė (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · my ပစ္စည်း (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · gl partícula (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · sk častica (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · nb partikkel (body with very small size) · ga páirteagal (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ky бөлүкчө (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · he חֶלְקִיק (body with very small size) · sh rèčca (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · cs částice (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ro particulă (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · sh čèstica (body with very small size) · la particula (body with very small size) · bn হরফ (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ko 입자 (body with very small size) · uz zarra (body with very small size) · uz yuklama (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ml കണം (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · mn сул үг (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · nl partikel (body with very small size) · sa कण (body with very small size) · hsb časćica (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · gl partícula (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · fi partikkeli (body with very small size) · kab tazelɣa (part of speech that cannot be inflected) · pt partícula (body with very small size) · kk демеулік (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · nl deeltje (body with very small size) · ia particula (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · gl partícula (body with very small size) · hu partikula (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ur ذَرَّہ (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · pt partícula (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · be часці́ца (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ja 助詞 (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · kk бөлшек (body with very small size) · gd criomag (body with very small size) · km និបាត (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · mn үндсэн мөхлөг (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · uk ча́стка (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · fi partikkeli (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · lv daļiņa (body with very small size) · da partikel (body with very small size) · hy եղանակավորող բառ (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · sk častica (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · tr edat (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · mk честичка (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · bg части́ца (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · nb partikkel (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · mi matūriki (body with very small size) · lv partikula (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ur ذَرَّہ (body with very small size) · lt dalelė (body with very small size) · de Partikel (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · sl delec (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · cy gronyn (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · ur دَقِیقَہ (body with very small size) · sv partikel (body with very small size) · ia particula (body with very small size) · he מִלִּית (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · km ចុណ្ណភាព (body with very small size) · sl členek (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · be часці́ца (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · prs ذَرَّه (body with very small size) · hsb partikla (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · sq pjesëz (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · cmn 粒子 (body with very small size) · nl partikel (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · ar جُسَيْم (body with very small size) · gd mìr (body with very small size) · ast partícula (body with very small size) · km អព្យយ (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · mi korakora (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · az hissəcik (body with very small size) · az ədat (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · az zərrəcik (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · nrf partitchule (body with very small size) · nn partikkel (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · sk častica (body with very small size) · ja 助辞 (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · bg части́ца (body with very small size) · sh čèstica (word that does not obviously belong to any particular part of speech) · mi korakora (body with very small size) · tr parçacık (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom) · hy մասնիկ (body with very small size) · sh čèstica (physical object making up the constituent parts of an atom)

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