Meanings
plural atomic piles
- nuclear physicsAn early nuclear reactor fueled by uranium and moderated with graphite.
1948 The second atomic pile at the Government's research establishment at Harwell […] is expected to be brought into use this summer – The Times (London), May 11 1948, pg 2 col A
Synonyms: nuclear pile
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn early nuclear reactor fueled by uranium and moderated with graphite.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna nuclear reactor that uses controlled nuclear fission to generate energy
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchpile“battery”
- Englishatomic pile
From the fact that the first nuclear reactor, at the University of Chicago in 1942-1943, was literally constituted by a tall pile (heap) of graphite moderator blocks. Compare also charcoal pile, a traditional improvised kiln used in charcoal making, which uses a similar basic design to contain a volatile process. The fact that English pile also is related to French pile (“battery”) (with senses of a collection of components and a power source, often both coinstantiated) has also been noted as an interesting nexus of word roots and semantic themes.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Danish mile
- milean early nuclear reactor fueled by uranium and moderated with graphite
Estonian tuumareaktor
- tuumareaktoran early nuclear reactor fueled by uranium and moderated with graphite
Finnish atomimiilu
- atomimiiluan early nuclear reactor fueled by uranium and moderated with graphite
Hungarian atommáglya, atomreaktor
- atommáglyaan early nuclear reactor fueled by uranium and moderated with graphite
- atomreaktoran early nuclear reactor fueled by uranium and moderated with graphite
- reaktoran early nuclear reactor fueled by uranium and moderated with graphite
- máglyaan early nuclear reactor fueled by uranium and moderated with graphite
Polish stos atomowy
- stos atomowyan early nuclear reactor fueled by uranium and moderated with graphite
Cite this entry
atomic pile. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/atomic%20pile
“atomic pile.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/atomic%20pile. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “atomic pile,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/atomic%20pile.
Source: atomic pile on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.