atom
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈætəm/
ipa: [ˈæɾm̩]
ipa: [ˈæɾəm]
rhymes: -ætəm
homophone: Adam stripped-by-parse_pron_post_template_fn
Forms: form: atoms
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.
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: 2013 September–October, Katie L. Burke, “In the news: Photosynthesis precursor”, in American Scientist, archived from the original on 13 Apr 2016:
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
meronyms: proton
neutron
electron
glosses: 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.
topics: history
human-sciences
sciences
glosses: A hypothetical particle posited by Greek philosophers as an ultimate and indivisible component of matter.
raw_tags: of science
examples: text: 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.
ref: 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:
text: But at this critical moment the pirate astern sent a mischievous shot and knocked one of the men to atoms at the helm.
ref: 1863, Charles Reade, Hard Cash:
qualifier: now generally regarded figuratively
glosses: The smallest, indivisible constituent part or unit of something.
topics: human-sciences
philosophy
sciences
glosses: In logical atomism, a fundamental fact that cannot be further broken down.
glosses: The smallest medieval unit of time, equal to fifteen ninety-fourths of a second.
glosses: A mote of dust in a sunbeam.
examples: text: "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.
ref: 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:
text: 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.
ref: 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:
synonyms: word: particle
word: speck
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 very small amount; a whit.
topics: Lisp
computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
programming
sciences
glosses: An individual number or symbol, as opposed to a list; a scalar value.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
programming
sciences
coordinate_terms: quark
qualifier: Microsoft Windows
glosses: An integer representing a particular string.
examples: text: In a Venn diagram, an atom is depicted as an area circumscribed by lines but not cut by any line.
topics: mathematics
sciences
antonyms: coatom
glosses: 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").
topics: mathematics
sciences
set-theory
glosses: An element of a set that is not itself a set; an urelement.
glosses: An age group division in hockey for nine- to eleven-year-olds.
Hypernyms: word: composite particle
Meronyms: word: nucleus
word: atomic nucleus
word: subatomic particle
word: elementary particle
word: proton
word: neutron
word: electron
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: word: atomgrad
word: ⚛
word: chemical element
word: Appendix:Subatomic particles