electron
noun
Simple meaning
The subatomic particle having a negative charge and orbiting the nucleus.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihlehktrahnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪˈlɛktɹɑn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
particle physics
The subatomic particle having a negative charge and orbiting the nucleus; the flow of electrons in a conductor constitutes electricity.
particle physics
An elementary particle with negative charge
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (particle physics) The subatomic particle having a negative charge and orbiting the nucleus; the flow of electrons in a conductor constitutes electricity.
Used this way, electron is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use electron
- “An electron is a very tiny particle that carries an electric charge.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A microscope that is similar in purpose to a light microscope but achieves much greater resolving power by using a parallel beam of electrons to illuminate the object instead of a beam of…
Of or relating to or involving an electron microscope.
Microscopy with the use of electron microscopes.
A vacuum tube that amplifies a flow of electrons.
The branch of electronics that deals with beams of electrons and their focusing and deflection by magnetic fields.
The path of an electron around the nucleus of an atom.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The branch of physics that deals with the emission and effects of electrons and with the use of electronic devices.
Equipment that involves the controlled conduction of electrons (especially in a gas or vacuum or semiconductor).
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- protonnoun
- neutrinonoun
- photonnoun
- cytochromenoun
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.