Meanings
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA subatomic particle forming part of the nucleus of an atom and having no charge; it is a combination of an up quark and two down quarks.
Origin
From neutral + -on; by surface analysis, neutr(o)- + -on. Coined by Scottish-Australian physicist William Sutherland in 1899 in a paper in the Philosophical Magazine. Subsequent usage was sporadic and theoretical, sometimes referring to neutrinos rather than neutrons, and the modern sense was reintroduced alongside proton by Ernest Rutherford in 1920.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic نْيُوتْرُون, نُوتْرُون
- نْيُوتْرُون (nyutrūn)subatomic particle
- نُوتْرُون (nutrūn)subatomic particle
- نْيُتْرُون (nyutrūn)subatomic particle
- نُتْرُون (nutrūn)subatomic particle
Basque neutroi
- neutroisubatomic particle
Bengali নিউট্রন
- নিউট্রন (niuṭron)subatomic particle
Brazilian Portuguese nêutron
- nêutronsubatomic particle
Bulgarian неутро́н
- неутро́н (neutrón)subatomic particle
Catalan neutró
- neutrósubatomic particle
Chinese Cantonese 中子
- 中子 (zung¹ zi²)subatomic particle
Chinese Mandarin 中子
- 中子 (zhōngzǐ)subatomic particle
Czech neutron
- neutronsubatomic particle
Danish neutron
- neutronsubatomic particle
Dutch neutron
- neutronsubatomic particle
Esperanto neŭtrono
- neŭtronosubatomic particle
European Portuguese neutrão
- neutrãosubatomic particle
Finnish neutroni
- neutronisubatomic particle
French neutron
- neutronsubatomic particle
German Neutron
- Neutronsubatomic particle
Greek νετρόνιο
- νετρόνιο (netrónio)subatomic particle
Hawaiian huna hohoki
- huna hohokisubatomic particle
Hebrew נֵיטרוֹן
- נֵיטרוֹן (neitrón)subatomic particle
Hindi नपुंसणु
- नपुंसणु (napunsṇu)subatomic particle
Icelandic nifteind
- nifteindsubatomic particle
Irish neodrón
- neodrónsubatomic particle
Italian neutrone
- neutronesubatomic particle
Japanese 中性子
- 中性子 (chūseishi)subatomic particle
Korean 중성자
- 중성자 (jungseongja)subatomic particle
Latvian neitrons
- neitronssubatomic particle
Māori iramoe
- iramoesubatomic particle
Norwegian Bokmål nøytron
- nøytronsubatomic particle
Persian نوترون
- نوترونsubatomic particle
Polish neutron
- neutronsubatomic particle
Romanian neutron
- neutronsubatomic particle
Russian нейтро́н
- нейтро́н (nejtrón)subatomic particle
Spanish neutrón
- neutrónsubatomic particle
Swahili nyutroni
- nyutronisubatomic particle
Swedish neutron
- neutronsubatomic particle
Tagalog awansik
- awansiksubatomic particle
Thai นิวตรอน
- นิวตรอน (niu-dtrɔn)subatomic particle
Turkish nötron
- nötronsubatomic particle
Ukrainian нейтрон
- нейтрон (nejtron)subatomic particle
Vietnamese nơtron
- nơtronsubatomic particle
Welsh niwtron
- niwtronsubatomic particle
Yiddish נייטראָן
- נייטראָן (neytron)subatomic particle
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
neutron. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neutron
“neutron.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neutron. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “neutron,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neutron.
Source: neutron on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.