Baryon
/ˈbær.i.ɒn/noun
A subatomic particle such as a proton or neutron, made of three quarks.
Did you know?Baryon comes from Greek barys, “heavy,” the same ancient root behind words for weight and burden, because early physicists named it for the comparatively heavy family of particles.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Gk
βαρύς (barýs)
“heavy, weighty”
19th Century
English
bary-
“a scientific combining form meaning heavy”
1860s
English
baryon
“a term coined in physics for heavy particles”
Modern English
English
baryon
“a particle such as a proton or neutron composed of three quarks”
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