lepton

L1E1P3T1O1N1
/ˈlɛptɒn/

noun

A coin used since ancient times in Greece, serving in modern times as one hundredth of a phoenix, a drachma, and a euro (as the Greek form of the Eurocent).

Less commonScrabble 8

Meanings

lepton1

nounlepton (plural lepta or leptons)

plural lepta · plural leptons

  1. A coin used since ancient times in Greece, serving in modern times as one hundredth of a phoenix, a drachma, and a euro (as the Greek form of the Eurocent).
  2. A small, bronze Judean coin from the 1st century BCE, considered by some to be the widow's mite.

lepton2

nounlepton (plural leptons)

plural leptons

  1. particlenatural sciencesAn elementary particle that has a spin of 1/2 (i.e., is a fermion) and does not interact via the strong nuclear force; examples include the electron, the muon, the neutrino and the tauon.
    1 more example

    In the present paper we deal with the second order radiative correction to the beta disintegration of nucleon, assuming the Fermi's interaction between necleon and lepton fields, and show that there appears such an ultraviolet divergence as can not be removed by the procedure of renormalization of mass and coupling constant, so far as a single type of coupling is assumed for the decay Hamiltonian.

    1950, Tadao Nakano, “Radiative Correction to Decay Processes”, in Progress of Theoretical Physics, volume 5, number 6

Synonyms & antonyms

Origin

lepton · noun

  1. Ancient Greekλέπω (lépō)
  2. Ancient Greekλεπτόν (leptón)
  3. Englishlepton

Derived from Ancient Greek λεπτόν (leptón, “small”). From Ancient Greek λεπτόν (leptón), neuter form of λεπτός (leptós, “small”).

Full word history & related roots →

lepton · noun

  1. Ancient Greekλέπω (lépō)
  2. Ancient Greekλεπτόν (leptón)
  3. Ancient Greekἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron)
  4. Latinēlectrum
  5. New Latinēlectricus
  6. Englishelectric
  7. Proto-Indo-European*h₁ey-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éyti
  9. Proto-Hellenic*éimi
  10. Ancient Greekἰόν (ión)
  11. Englishion
  12. Englishelectronbf.
  13. Englishlepton

From Ancient Greek λεπτόν (leptón, “small”) + English -on. From Ancient Greek λεπτός (leptós) + -on. Coined by Dutch-American physicist Abraham Pais in 1947.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek λεπτόν
  • λεπτόν (leptón)Greek coin
Basque leptoi
  • leptoielementary particle
Bengali লেপটন
  • লেপটন (lepoṭon)elementary particle
Brazilian Portuguese lépton
  • léptonelementary particle
Bulgarian ле́пта
  • ле́пта (lépta)Greek coin
Catalan leptó
  • leptóelementary particle
Chinese Mandarin 輕子 /轻子
  • 輕子 /轻子 (qīngzǐ)elementary particle
Dutch lepton
  • leptonelementary particle
Esperanto leptono
  • leptonoelementary particle
European Portuguese leptão
  • leptãoelementary particle
Finnish lepto, leptoni
  • leptoGreek coin
  • leptonielementary particle
French lepton, lepton
  • leptonGreek coin
  • leptonelementary particle
German Lepton
  • Leptonelementary particle
Greek λεπτό, λεπτόνιο
  • λεπτό (leptó)Greek coin
  • λεπτόνιο (leptónio)elementary particle
Hungarian lepton
  • leptonelementary particle
Icelandic létteind
  • létteindelementary particle
Italian leptone
  • leptoneelementary particle
Japanese レプトン, 軽粒子
  • レプトン (reputon)elementary particle
  • 軽粒子 (keiryūshi)elementary particle
Polish lepton, lepton
  • leptonGreek coin
  • leptonelementary particle
Romanian lepton
  • leptonelementary particle
Russian ле́пта, лепто́н
  • ле́пта (lépta)Greek coin
  • лепто́н (leptón)elementary particle
Spanish leptón, leptón
  • leptónGreek coin
  • leptónelementary particle
Swedish lepton
  • leptonelementary particle

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

lepton. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lepton

MLA

“lepton.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lepton. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lepton,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lepton.

Source: lepton on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.