Meanings
holon1
plural holons
- particlenatural sciencesOne of three kinds of quasiparticle (the others being the spinon and orbiton) that electrons in solids are able to split into during the process of spin–charge separation, when extremely tightly confined at temperatures close to absolute zero.
Synonyms: chargon
holon2
plural holons
- human sciencesSomething that is both a part and a whole.
1 more example
Before an atom is an atom, it is a holon. Before a cell is a cell, it is a holon. Before an idea is an idea, it is a holon. All of them are wholes that exist in other wholes, and thus they are all whole/parts, or holons, first and foremost (long before any “particular characteristics” are singled out by us).
1995, Ken Wilber, “The Pattern That Connects”, in Sex, Ecology, Spirituality, Shambhala, →ISBN, Book One, pages 33–34
Synonyms & antonyms
nounOne of three kinds of quasiparticle (the others being the spinon and orbiton) that electrons in solids are able to split into during the process of spin–charge separation, when extremely tightly confined at temperatures close to absolute zero.
Origin
holon · noun
- Ancient Greekὅλος“whole”
- Englishholon
From holo- (from Ancient Greek ὅλος (hólos, “whole”)) + -on (like taxon or meron). Coined by Arthur Koestler in his 1967 book The Ghost in the Machine.
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish holoni, holoni
- holoniquasiparticle
- holoniconnection of the part and the whole
French chargeon, holon
- chargeonquasiparticle
- holonconnection of the part and the whole
German Holon
- Holonconnection of the part and the whole
Cite this entry
holon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/holon
“holon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/holon. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “holon,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/holon.
Source: holon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.