atom - What does it mean?
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Definition of 'atom'Alternative forms
* atomus (obsolete)
Noun
( en-noun)
(history of science) A hypothetical particle posited by Greek philosophers as an ultimate and indivisible component of matter.
(physics|chemistry) 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.
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* {{quote-magazine|year=2013|month=September-October|author= Katie L. Burke
|magazine=( American Scientist)|title= In the News
|passage=Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis:
A mote of dust in a sunbeam.
The smallest, indivisible constituent part or unit of something. (Now generally interpreted as a figurative use of the physics sense, above.)
* 1835 , Sir , Sir (James Clark Ross), Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-west Passage …'', Volume 1 , pp.284-5
- 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.
A very small amount (of something immaterial); a whit.
* 1873 , (Isabella Macdonald Alden) (as "Pansy"), Three People , Western Tract and Book Society (1873), page 325 :
- "I have hardly the faintest atom of hope," answered this honest, earnest man.
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- those of us who are capable of it are forced to work to the last atom of our strength
(mathematics) A non-zero member of a (Boolean algebra) that is not a union of any other elements.
(computing|programming|Lisp) An individual number or symbol, as opposed to a list. A scalar value.
Synonyms
* See also
* (small amount) see also .
Related terms
* atom smasher
* atomic
* atomize
See also
* element
References
* archived version of Wikipedia page "Atom (disambiguation)"
Anagrams
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