Meanings
plural baryons
- particlenatural sciencesA heavy subatomic particle created by the binding of quarks by gluons; a hadron containing three quarks. Baryons have half-odd integral spin and are thus fermions. This category includes the common proton and neutron of the atomic nucleus.
1 more example
Without prejudging on the actual nature of the relationship between the V₁ and the nucleon it seems practical to have a collective name for these particles and other which possibly may still be discovered and which may also have to be taken along in the conservation principle just mentioned. It is proposed to use the fitting name "baryon" for this purpose.
1953 October 1, A. Pais, “On the Baryon-meson-photon System”, in Progress of Theoretical Physics, volume 10, number 4, page 457
Synonyms & antonyms
nounany of the elementary particles having a mass equal to or greater than that of a proton and that participate in strong interactions; a hadron with a baryon number of +1
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*gʷreh₂-
- Proto-Indo-European*gʷréh₂us
- Proto-Hellenic*gʷarus
- Ancient Greekβαρύς (barús)
- Ancient Greekἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron)
- Latinēlectrum
- New Latinēlectricus
- Englishelectric
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁ey-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éyti
- Proto-Hellenic*éimi
- Ancient Greekἰόν (ión)
- Englishion
- Englishelectronbf.
- Englishbaryon
From Ancient Greek βαρύς (barús, “heavy”) + English -on. Coined by Dutch-American physicist Abraham Pais in 1953. Equivalent to baryo- + -on.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Brazilian Portuguese bárion
- bárionheavy subatomic particle
Bulgarian барион
- барион (barion)heavy subatomic particle
Catalan barió
- barióheavy subatomic particle
Chinese Mandarin 重子
- 重子 (zhòngzǐ)heavy subatomic particle
Danish baryon
- baryonheavy subatomic particle
Dutch baryon
- baryonheavy subatomic particle
Esperanto bariono
- barionoheavy subatomic particle
European Portuguese barião
- bariãoheavy subatomic particle
Finnish baryoni
- baryoniheavy subatomic particle
French baryon
- baryonheavy subatomic particle
Greek βαρυόνιο
- βαρυόνιο (varyónio)heavy subatomic particle
Icelandic þungeind
- þungeindheavy subatomic particle
Italian barione
- barioneheavy subatomic particle
Japanese 重粒子, バリオン
- 重粒子 (jūryūshi)heavy subatomic particle
- バリオン (barion)heavy subatomic particle
Korean 중입자
- 중입자 (jung'ipja)heavy subatomic particle
Norwegian Bokmål baryon
- baryonheavy subatomic particle
Polish barion
- barionheavy subatomic particle
Russian барио́н
- барио́н (barión)heavy subatomic particle
Spanish barión
- bariónheavy subatomic particle
Swedish baryon
- baryonheavy subatomic particle
Turkish baryon
- baryonheavy subatomic particle
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
baryon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/baryon
“baryon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/baryon. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “baryon,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/baryon.
Source: baryon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.