particle

[pahr-ti-kuhl]

noun

1. a minute portion, piece, fragment, or amount; a tiny or very small bit.

   a particle of dust; not a particle of supporting evidence.

   Synonyms: speck, grain, tittle, jot, iota, whit, mite

2. Physics.

   1. one of the extremely small constituents of matter, as an atom or nucleus.

   2. an elementary particle, quark, or gluon.

   3. a body in which the internal motion is negligible.

3. a clause or article, as of a document.

4. Grammar.

   1. (in some languages) one of the major form classes, or parts of speech, consisting of words that are neither nouns nor verbs, or of all uninflected words, or the like.

   2. such a word.

   3. a small word of functional or relational use, as an article, preposition, or conjunction, whether of a separate form class or not.

5. Roman Catholic Church.,  a small piece of the Host given to each lay communicant in a Eucharistic service.

particle

/ ˈpɑːtɪkəl /

noun

1. an extremely small piece of matter; speck

2. a very tiny amount; iota

   it doesn't make a particle of difference

3. a function word, esp (in certain languages) a word belonging to an uninflected class having suprasegmental or grammatical function

   the Greek particles ``mēn'' and ``de'' are used to express contrast

   questions in Japanese are indicated by the particle ``ka''

   English ``up'' is sometimes regarded as an adverbial particle

4. a common affix, such as re-, un-, or -ness

5. physics a body with finite mass that can be treated as having negligible size, and internal structure

6. See elementary particle

7. RC Church a small piece broken off from the Host at Mass

8. archaic,  a section or clause of a document

particle

1. A very small piece of solid matter.

2. An elementary particle, subatomic particle, or atomic nucleus.

3. Also called corpuscle

Other Word Forms

• particled adjective
• interparticle adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of particle¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Latin word particula. See part, -i-, -cle ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of particle¹

C14: from Latin particula a small part, from pars _part

Example Sentences

The Northern Lights are caused by solar winds carrying charged particles interacting with the earth's magnetic field.

From BBC

Rico said it’s a hot spot where the falling water forms bubbles that burst and send fine particles of pollutants into the air.

From Los Angeles Times

When averaged over the year, Imperial Valley and Salton Sea Basin have twice the state limit for larger particles.

From Los Angeles Times

“The concern was that in large concentrates the particles would be hazardous. But the cloud has since dissipated.”

From Los Angeles Times

Brake dust contains tiny bits of metal, black carbon and other particles that enter the air due to friction and the wearing away of braking materials.

From BBC

Related Words

• fleck 
• fragment 
• grain 
• mite 
• molecule 
• ray 
• speck