atom

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, “I cut”). Atoms are so named because historically the notion was that they were indivisible, given that chemically they are indeed so; the splitting of atoms awaited a later era of science and technology, and nonchemical means. Doublet of atomus.

• 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

atom (plural atoms)

1. (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.]

   Meronyms: proton, neutron, electron

   • 2013 September–October, Katie L. Burke, “In the news: Photosynthesis precursor”, in American Scientist‎^[1], 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.

2. (history of science) A hypothetical particle posited by Greek philosophers as an ultimate and indivisible component of matter. [from 15th c.]
3. (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^[2]:

     But at this critical moment the pirate astern sent a mischievous shot and knocked one of the men to atoms at the helm.

4. (philosophy) In logical atomism, a fundamental fact that cannot be further broken down.
5. (historical) The smallest medieval unit of time, equal to fifteen ninety-fourths of a second. [from 10th c.]
6. A mote of dust in a sunbeam. [from 16th c.]
7. 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.

8. (programming, Lisp) An individual number or symbol, as opposed to a list; a scalar value. [from 20th c.]
9. (programming, Microsoft Windows) An integer representing a particular string.

   Coordinate term: quark

10. (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.

11. (mathematics, set theory) An element of a set that is not itself a set; an urelement. [from 20th c.]
12. (Canada, usually attributive) An age group division in hockey for nine- to eleven-year-olds.

• atomgrad

• → Swahili: atomi

• ⚛
• chemical element

• atom on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• mota, TMAO, toma, Mato, Amto, moat, Mota, Moat, atmo

atom m (definite atomi)

1. (physics, chemistry)

• “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]‎^[3], 1980

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.tɔmː/

atom m (collective, plural atomennoù, singulative atomenn)

1. (physics) atoms

• atomek

From English atom

atom

1. (physics) atom

• “atom”, in Luğatçıq (in Russian)

• IPA^(key): [ˈatom]

atom m inan

1. (physics) atom

• “atom”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “atom”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

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”).

• IPA^(key): [aˈtˢoˀm]

atom n (singular definite atomet, plural indefinite atomer)

1. atom

• “atom” in Den Danske Ordbog

From English atom, from Ancient Greek ἄτομος (átomos, “indivisible”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + τέμνω (témnō, “I cut”).^[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈɒtom]
• Hyphenation: atom
• Rhymes: -om

atom (plural atomok)

1. atom

• atom in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• atom in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).

Internationalism, borrowed from Dutch atoom (“atom”), from French atome, from Latin atomus, from Ancient Greek ἄτομος (átomos).

• IPA^(key): /ˈatɔm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -tɔm, -ɔm, -m
• Hyphenation: a‧tom

atom (plural atom-atom)

1. (chemistry, nuclear physics) atom, 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
2. (figurative) modern

   Synonyms: modern, mutakhir

3. (figurative) plastic, a synthetic, solid, hydrocarbon-based polymer, whether thermoplastic or thermosetting

   Synonym: plastik

• “atom” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Internationalism; possibly borrowed from German Atom or Polish atom, ultimately from Ancient Greek ἄτομος (átomos, “indivisible”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.tɔm/
• Rhymes: -atɔm
• Syllabification: a‧tom

atom m inan (related adjective atomowi)

1. (physics) atom

• Jan Trepczyk (1994) “atom”, in Słownik polsko-kaszubski (in Kashubian), volumes 1–2
• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “atom”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎^[4]
• “atom”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022

From English atom, from Old French atome, from Latin atomus, from Ancient Greek ἄτομος (átomos).

• IPA^(key): /atom/
• Rhymes: -atom, -tom, -om

atom (Jawi spelling اتوم, plural atom-atom)

1. (physics) atom (physics: smallest possible amount of matter retaining its chemical properties)

From Ancient Greek ἄτομος (átomos, “indivisible, uncut, undivided”), both from ἀ- (a-, “not, without”), from Proto-Hellenic *ə- (“un-, not; without, lacking”), from Proto-Indo-European *n̥- (“not, un-”) + and from τέμνω (témnō, “I cut, hew, wound, butcher”), from Proto-Indo-European *tm̥-n-h₁-, from *temh₁- (“to cut”).

• IPA^(key): /aˈtuːm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːm
• Hyphenation: at‧om
• Homophone: atom-

atom n (definite singular atomet, indefinite plural atom or atomer, definite plural atoma or atomene)

1. (chemistry, physics) an atom (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)

   et atom består av en atomkjerne omgitt av elektroner

   an atom consists of an atomic nucleus surrounded by electrons

   • 1943, Carl Fred. Holmboe, Michael Faraday, page 94:

     tinnklorid … består av et atom tinn og to atomer klor

     tin chloride… consists of one atom of tin and two atoms chlorine tin chloride… consists of one atom of tin and two atoms of chlorine

   • 1943, Carl Fred. Holmboe, Michael Faraday, page 164:

     man var nådd frem til dets minste byggesten. Denne kalte Demokritos et atom: ἄτομος som betyr udelelig

     one had reached its smallest building block. This one called Democritus an atom: ἄτομος which means indivisible

   • 1951, Agnar Mykle, Morgen i appelsingult, page 42:

     det var nok atomene [som har forårsaket katastrofen] likevel, som jeg trodde!

     it was probably the atoms [that caused the disaster] anyway, as I thought!

   • 2014, Nasjonal digital læringsarena‎^[ndla.no]:

     for å forstå hvordan stoffer reagerer med hverandre, og hvorfor de ulike stoffene har forskjellige egenskaper, må vi først lære om de minste byggesteinene i naturen, nemlig atomer

     to understand how substances react with each other, and why the different substances have different properties, we must first learn about the smallest building blocks in nature, namely atoms

2. (figuratively) an atom (the smallest, indivisible constituent part or unit of something)

   Synonyms: grann, partikkel, smule

   • 1865, H. Schulze, Fra Lofoten og Solør, page 87:

     [stokken] maatte styrte udover ham og knuse ham til atomer

     [the stick] had to crash over him and crush him into atoms

   • 1891, Arne Garborg, Trætte Mænd, page 230:

     i samvittighedsnaget en draabe smigret forfængelighed – Og i forfængeligheden et atom selvforagt

     in the gnaw of conscience a drop of flattered vanity - And in vanity an atom of self-loathing

   • 1910, Sven Elvestad, Angsten, page 29:

     i et lidet atom af tid synes han fremdeles han er et andet og fjernt sted

     in a small atom of time he still thinks he is another and distant place

• atom- (prefix)

• “atom” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “atom” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “atom” in Store norske leksikon
• “atom (historikk)” in Store norske leksikon
• “atom (atomteori)” in Store norske leksikon

• atom-, mota

From Ancient Greek ἄτομος (átomos).

atom n (definite singular atomet, indefinite plural atom, definite plural atoma)

1. an atom

• atommasse
• atomvekt

• atom- (prefix)

• “atom” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Borrowed from Latin atomus.

• IPA^(key): [ˈadoβ̃]

atom m

1. atom, mote

• Middle Irish: atam
  • Irish: adamh

Borrowed from French atome.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.tɔm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -atɔm
• Syllabification: a‧tom

atom m inan (related adjective atomowy)

1. (physics) atom [with genitive ‘of what’]
2. nuclear device (something that operates thanks to nuclear energy)

• atom in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• atom in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Borrowed from French atome, from Latin atomus.

• IPA^(key): /aˈtom/

atom m (plural atomi)

1. atom

• “atom”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

From Ancient Greek ἄτομος (átomos).

• IPA^(key): /ǎtoːm/
• Hyphenation: a‧tom

àtōm m inan (Cyrillic spelling а̀то̄м)

1. atom

• “atom”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

• IPA^(key): /atoːm/

atom c

1. atom; the smallest particle to retain the properties of the element
2. (historical) atom; the theoretically smallest possible particle

• atom in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• atom in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• atom in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Borrowed from French atome.

• IPA^(key): [ɑˈtɔm]

• Audio:

  (file)

atom (definite accusative atomu, plural atomlar)

1. (physics) atom
2. a kind of sugary drink common in and around Mersin province

• atom bombası

• atomik

• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “atom”, in Nişanyan Sözlük

• IPA^(key): /ˈatɔm/

atom m or f (plural atomau)

1. atom

• (nonstandard) atomfa (“nuclear power station”)

• aton

atom

1. (literary) first-person plural of at