particle
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpɑːtɪk(ə)l/
ipa: /ˈpɑɹtɪkəl/
rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)tɪkəl
Forms: form: particles
Etymology: From Middle French particule, and its source, Latin particula (“small part, particle”), diminutive of pars (“part, piece”).
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “The Phantom Rickshaw”, in The Phantom 'Rickshaw and Other Tales, Allahabad: A.H. Wheeler and Co., page 10:
text: Not every exasperated petty bourgeois could have become Hitler, but a particle of Hitler is lodged in every exasperated petty bourgeois.
ref: 1933 December 1, Leon Trotsky, “Hitler’s National Socialism”, in The Yale Review, volume 23, number 2:
synonyms: word: bit
word: chip
word: chunk
word: clip
word: crumb
word: crumbling
word: cutting
word: flake
word: fleak
word: fragment
word: hunk
word: lump
word: mammock
word: ort
word: piece
word: piecemeal
word: portion
word: scrap
word: scraplet
word: slice
word: snead
word: snippet
word: steck
glosses: A very small piece of matter, a fragment; especially, the smallest possible part of something.
examples: text: What, he asked himself, does quantum theory have to say about the familiar properties of particles such as position?
ref: 2011, Brian Cox, Jeff Forshaw, The Quantum Universe, Allen Lane, published 2011, page 55:
text: 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.
ref: 2012 March-April, Jeremy Bernstein, “A Palette of Particles”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 146:
topics: natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
glosses: Any of various physical objects making up the constituent parts of an atom; an elementary particle or subatomic particle.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1965 June 4, Shigeyuki Kuroda, “Generative grammatical studies in the Japanese language”, in DSpace@MIT, retrieved 24 Feb 2014, page 38:
text: 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
ref: 1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 133:
topics: grammar
human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
synonyms: p-word
glosses: 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).
examples: text: 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.
ref: 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)
text: The Parts of Speech are the Noun (Substantive and Adjective), the Pronoun, the Verb, and the Particles (Adverb, Preposition, and Conjunction)[.]
ref: 1894 (2008), B. L. Gildersleeve & G. Lodge: Gildersleeve's Latin Grammar (reprint of the 3rd edition by Dover, 2008), p.9. (at books.google)
topics: human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
glosses: A part of speech which cannot be inflected.
topics: Christianity
glosses: In the Roman Catholic church, a crumb of consecrated bread; also the smaller breads used in the communion of the laity.
examples: text: "That doesn't make a particle of difference", replied Charlotte. "Not a particle."
ref: 1952, E.B. White, Charlotte's Web, page 89:
synonyms: word: atom
word: molecule
word: ace
word: tinge
word: atom
word: trace element
word: aught
word: bissel
word: bit
word: crumb
word: glimpse
word: dab
word: damn
word: dash
word: diddly
word: glint
word: dot
word: spatter
word: drop
word: dusting
word: fleck
word: hint
word: flip
word: flyspeck
word: grain
word: halfpennyworth
word: inch
word: iota
word: jot
word: lick
word: mite
word: modicum
word: molecule
word: morceau
word: morsel
word: mote
word: ooch
word: ounce
word: particle
word: pennyworth
word: piece
word: pinch
word: scantling
word: semblance
word: scent
word: scintilla
word: scooch
word: scrap
word: scruple
word: shred
word: skerrick
word: skoosh
word: skosh
word: sliver
word: smattering
word: smidge
word: smidgen
word: smidget
word: smidgy
word: smitch
word: smithereen
word: soupçon
word: spark
word: speck
word: speckle
word: spot
word: sprinkle
word: sprinkling
word: strain
word: tad
word: tidbit
word: tidge
word: tittle
word: toddick
word: touch
word: trace
word: trifle
word: tuppence worth
word: vestige
word: whiff
word: whit
glosses: A little bit.
Hyponyms: topics: linguistics
human-sciences
sciences
word: aspect particle
topics: linguistics
human-sciences
sciences
word: modal particle
topics: physics
physical-sciences
natural-sciences
word: bradyon
topics: physics
physical-sciences
natural-sciences
word: faster-than-light particle
topics: physics
physical-sciences
natural-sciences
word: leviton
topics: physics
physical-sciences
natural-sciences
word: luxon
topics: physics
physical-sciences
natural-sciences
word: superluminal particle
topics: physics
physical-sciences
natural-sciences
word: tachyon
topics: physics
physical-sciences
natural-sciences
word: tachyonic particle
Derived terms: sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: adparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: adverbial particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: alpha particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: angel particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: antiparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: anti-particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: astroparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: beta particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: bioparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: cascade particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: charged particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: charged-particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: composite particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: cosmoparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: delta particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: Dirac particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: ferroparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: fundamental particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: gamma particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: geoparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: God particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: gravitationally interacting massive particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: Higgs particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: Hitler particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: holoparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: hot particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: immunoparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: infraparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: interparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: intraparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: J/psi particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: Janus particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: K-particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: lambda particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: lipoviroparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: macroparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: Majorana particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: microparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: monoparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: multi-particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: multiparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: nanoparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: nobiliary particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: Oh-My-God particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: OMG particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: paraparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: particle-antiparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: particle-board
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: particled
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: particle energy
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: particle horizon
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: particle mechanics
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: particle statistics
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: particle theory
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: particle verb
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: particle zoo
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: Planck particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: pseudoparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: psi particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: quasiparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: radioparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: retroparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: ribonucleoparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: solar energetic particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: sparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: strongly interacting massive particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: subparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: superparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: super weakly interacting massive particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: supraparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: tau particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: ultrafine particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: unparticle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: upsilon particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: virtual particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: V particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: wave-particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: wave-particle duality
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: wavicle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: weakly interacting massive particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: W particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: X17 particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: Z particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: α-particle
sense: unsorted - some may also be hyponym
word: β-particle
Related terms: part
particle accelerator
particle beam
particle board
particle physics
particle shower
particular
particulate