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atom

UK/ˈætəm/ US/ˈæɾm̩/ fairly common

noun

1.

(physics and chemistry) the smallest component of an element having the chemical properties of the element

2.

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • atom bomb
  • atom cocktail
  • atom feed
  • atom laser
  • atom physics
  • atom smasher
  • Bohr atom
  • Boolean atom

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.