Meanings
nounmass defect (plural mass defects)
plural mass defects
- natural sciencesthe 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
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe amount by which the mass of an atomic nucleus is less than the sum of the masses of its constituent particles
Similar
mass deficiency
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Finnish massavaje, massavajaus
- massavajedifference between the mass of an atom and that of its components
- massavajausdifference between the mass of an atom and that of its components
German Massendefekt
- Massendefektdifference between the mass of an atom and that of its components
Hindi द्रव्यमान क्षति, द्रव्यमान दोष
- द्रव्यमान क्षति (dravyamān kṣati)difference between the mass of an atom and that of its components
- द्रव्यमान दोष (dravyamān doṣ)difference between the mass of an atom and that of its components
Indonesian defek massa
- defek massadifference between the mass of an atom and that of its components
Swedish massdefekt
- massdefektdifference between the mass of an atom and that of its components
Cite this entry
APA
mass defect. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mass%20defect
MLA
“mass defect.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mass%20defect. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mass defect,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mass%20defect.
Source: mass defect on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.