mass defect
noun
Simple meaning
The amount by which the mass of an atomic nucleus is less than the sum of the masses of its constituent particles.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
masdeefektSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmæsˈdifɛkt
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
physics
The amount by which the mass of an atomic nucleus is less than the sum of the masses of its constituent particles
physics
The difference between the mass of an atom and the sum of the masses of its individual components in the free state; equivalent to the binding energy
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The amount by which the mass of an atomic nucleus is less than the sum of the masses of its constituent particles
Used this way, mass defect 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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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.