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atom
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English attome, from Middle French athome, from Latin atomus (“smallest particle”), from Ancient Greek ἄτομος (átomos, “indivisible”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + τέμνω (témnō, “to cut”, o-grade in τομ-) + -ος (-os). Atoms are so named because they were historically thought up as to be the smallest unit of matter, and thus indivisible. Doublet of atomus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈætəm/
- (General American) IPA(key): [ˈæɾm̩], [ˈæɾəm]
Audio (General American): (file) Audio (General Australian): (file) - Rhymes: -ætəm
- Homophone: Adam (in dialects with flapping)
- Hyphenation: at‧om
Noun
atom (plural atoms)
- (chemistry, physics) The smallest possible amount of matter which still retains its identity as a chemical element, now known to consist of a nucleus surrounded by electrons. [from 16th c.]
- 2013 September–October, Katie L. Burke, “In the news: Photosynthesis precursor”, in American Scientist, archived from the original on 13 April 2016:
- Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: the ability to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and waste oxygen using solar energy. The evolutionary precursor of photosynthesis is still under debate, and a new study sheds light. The critical component of the photosynthetic system is the water-oxidizing complex, made up of manganese atoms and a calcium atom.
- (history of science) A hypothetical particle posited by Greek philosophers as an ultimate and indivisible component of matter. [from 15th c.]
- (now generally regarded figuratively) The smallest, indivisible constituent part or unit of something. [from 17th c.]
- 1835, John Ross, James Clark Ross, “Chapter XXXIV. Labour in Cutting through the Ice—Become Fixed for the Winter—Summary of the Month.”, in Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-west Passage, and of a Residence in the Arctic Regions, during the Years 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833; by Sir John Ross, C.B., K.S.A., K.C.S., &c. &c. Captain in the Royal Navy. Including the Reports of Commander (now Captain) J. C. Ross, R.N., F.R.S., F.L.S., &c. and the Discovery of the Northern Magnetic Pole, Philadelphia, Pa.: E. A. Carey & A. Hart; Baltimore, Md.: Carey, Hart & Co., →OCLC, pages 283–284:
- Towards the following morning, the thermometer fell to 5°; and at daylight, there was not an atom of water to be seen in any direction.
- 1863, Charles Reade, Hard Cash:
- But at this critical moment the pirate astern sent a mischievous shot and knocked one of the men to atoms at the helm.
- (philosophy) In logical atomism, a fundamental fact that cannot be further broken down.
- (historical) The smallest medieval unit of time, equal to fifteen ninety-fourths of a second. [from 10th c.]
- A mote of dust in a sunbeam. [from 16th c.]
- A very small amount; a whit. [from 17th c.]
- Synonyms: particle, speck; see also Thesaurus:modicum
- 1873, “Pansy” [pseudonym; Isabella Macdonald Alden], “A Double Crisis”, in Three People, Cincinnati, Oh.: Western Tract and Book Society, 176 Elm Street, →OCLC, page 325:
- "Doctor, tell me one word more," said Theodore, quivering with suppressed emotion. "How do you think it will end?" / "I have hardly the faintest atom of hope," answered this honest, earnest man.
- 1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter I, in Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC, page 8:
- We are born, we are given just so much food as will keep the breath in our bodies, and those of us who are capable of it are forced to work to the last atom of our strength; and the very instant that our usefulness has come to an end we are slaughtered with hideous cruelty.
- (programming, Lisp) An individual number or symbol, as opposed to a list; a scalar value. [from 20th c.]
- (programming, Microsoft Windows) An integer representing a particular string.
- Coordinate term: quark
- (mathematics) A non-zero member of a partially ordered set that has only zero below it (assuming that the poset has a least element, its "zero"). [from 20th c.]
- Antonym: coatom
- In a Venn diagram, an atom is depicted as an area circumscribed by lines but not cut by any line.
- (mathematics, set theory) An element of a set that is not itself a set; an urelement. [from 20th c.]
- (Canada, usually attributive) An age group division in hockey for nine- to eleven-year-olds.
Derived terms
- adatom
- atom bomb
- atom cocktail
- atomechanics
- atomerg
- atom feed
- atomic
- atomical
- atomically
- atomism
- atomist
- atomistic
- atomization
- atomize
- atom laser
- atomless
- atomlike
- atomology
- atom physics
- atompunk
- atomsite
- atom smasher
- atomtronics
- atomweight
- Bohr atom
- Boolean atom
- catom
- exotic atom
- Gabor atom
- gram atom
- hadronic atom
- Hooke's atom
- interatom
- metaatom
- multiatom
- pseudoatom
- Rutherford atom
- Rydberg atom
- social atom
- spiroatom
- subatom
- superatom
- vortex atom
Related terms
Descendants
- → Swahili: atomi
Translations
chemistry, physics: smallest possible amount of matter retaining its chemical properties
|
historical: theoretical particle of matter
|
smallest indivisible constituent
obsolete: small unit of time
mathematics: member of a Boolean algebra
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
See also
Further reading
Anagrams
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Albanian
Noun
atom m (definite atomi)
Declension
Further reading
- “atom”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006
- FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language], 1980
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Breton
Pronunciation
Noun
atom m (collective, plural atomennoù, singulative atomenn)
Derived terms
Crimean Tatar
Etymology
Noun
atom
Declension
References
Czech
Pronunciation
Noun
atom m inan
Declension
Declension of atom (hard masculine inanimate)
Related terms
Further reading
- “atom”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
- “atom”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
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Danish
Etymology
Via German Atom n and Latin atomus f from Ancient Greek ἄτομοι (φύσεις) f (átomoi (phúseis)), ἄτομα (σώματα) n (átoma (sṓmata), “indivisible particles of matter”).
Pronunciation
Noun
atom n (singular definite atomet, plural indefinite atomer)
Declension
References
- “atom” in Den Danske Ordbog
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Hungarian
Indonesian
Kashubian
Malay
Norwegian Bokmål
Norwegian Nynorsk
Old Irish
Polish
Romanian
Serbo-Croatian
Swedish
Turkish
Welsh
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