particle

noun

A very small piece of matter, a fragment; especially, the smallest possible part of something.

(physics) Any of various physical objects making up the constituent parts of an atom; an elementary particle or subatomic particle.

A little bit.

(grammar) 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).

(linguistics) A part of speech which cannot be inflected.

(Christianity) In the Roman Catholic church, a crumb of consecrated bread; also the smaller breads used in the communion of the laity.

Roots

partiripart- · Latin · to divide, share out

Synonyms for particle

atomn moleculen electronn photonn neutronn mesonn mesotronn moten speckn pionn

Synonyms & related words for particle

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of particle — including atom, molecule, electron, photon, neutron, meson. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to particle

Explore words related to particle — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include antinucleon, antilepton, antibaryon, thermion, antineutron, antiparticle, subatomic, neutretto. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for particle

Common synonyms for particle include atom, molecule, electron, photon, neutron, meson, mesotron, mote — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does particle come from?

The word particle breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root part-, from Latin partiri (“to divide, share out”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.