Meanings
plural particulate matters
- countableuncountableAny solid or liquid in a finely subdivided state, especially when considered as an atmospheric pollutant.
Particulate matter air pollution contributes to lung cancer incidence in Europe.
2013 July 13, Ole Raaschou-Nielsen et al., “Air pollution and lung cancer incidence in 17 European cohorts: prospective analyses from the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE)”, in The Lancet Oncology, volume 14, number 9, →DOI1 more example
Ambient particulate matter affects local/regional air quality, human health and climate change significantly. The carbonaceous fractions like organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC, sometimes known as black carbon) are of high […]
2014, Guofeng Shen, Emission Factors of Carbonaceous Particulate Matter and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from Residential Solid Fuel Combustions, Springer, →ISBN, page 60Synonyms: particulates, PM
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny solid or liquid in a finely subdivided state, especially when considered as an atmospheric pollutant.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna small discrete mass of solid or liquid matter that remains individually dispersed in gas or liquid emissions (usually considered to be an atmospheric pollutant)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 懸浮微粒 /悬浮微粒, 顆粒物 /颗粒物
- 懸浮微粒 /悬浮微粒 (xuánfúwēilì)solid or liquid in a finely subdivided state
- 顆粒物 /颗粒物 (kēlìwù)solid or liquid in a finely subdivided state
- 懸浮粒子 /悬浮粒子 (xuánfúlìzǐ)solid or liquid in a finely subdivided state
Finnish pienhiukkaset
- pienhiukkasetsolid or liquid in a finely subdivided state
French particules
- particulessolid or liquid in a finely subdivided state
German Feinstaub
- Feinstaubsolid or liquid in a finely subdivided state
Hungarian szálló por
- szálló porsolid or liquid in a finely subdivided state
Italian particolato
- particolatosolid or liquid in a finely subdivided state
Japanese 粒子状物質
- 粒子状物質 (riyūshijōbusshitsu)solid or liquid in a finely subdivided state
Korean 미세먼지
- 미세먼지 (misemeonji)solid or liquid in a finely subdivided state
Polish cząstki stałe, pył zawieszony
- cząstki stałesolid or liquid in a finely subdivided state
- pył zawieszonysolid or liquid in a finely subdivided state
Portuguese material particulado
- material particuladosolid or liquid in a finely subdivided state
Spanish material particulado
- material particuladosolid or liquid in a finely subdivided state
Cite this entry
particulate matter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/particulate%20matter
“particulate matter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/particulate%20matter. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “particulate matter,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/particulate%20matter.
Source: particulate matter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.