electrons
noun
Form of electron , plural of electron.
Simple meaning
The subatomic particle having a negative charge and orbiting the nucleus.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihlehktrahnzSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪˈlɛktɹɑnz
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
plural of electronparticle physics
The subatomic particle having a negative charge and orbiting the nucleus; the flow of electrons in a conductor constitutes electricity.
plural of electron
An elementary particle with negative charge
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
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, electrons 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.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
An elementary particle with negative charge.
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.
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…
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.
A grouping of electrons surrounding the nucleus of an atom.
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.
- electronnoun
- electrodenoun
- cathodenoun
- cytochromenoun
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