: one of the minute indivisible particles of which according to ancient materialism (see materialismsense 1a) the universe is composed
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Some ancient philosophers believed that matter is infinitely divisible, that any particle, no matter how small, can always be divided into smaller particles. Others believed that there must be a limit and that everything in the universe must be made up of tiny indivisible particles. Such a hypothetical particle was called atomos in Greek, which means “indivisible.” According to modern atomic theory, all matter is made up of tiny particles named atoms from the ancient Greek atomos. However, it has turned out that atoms are not indivisible after all. Indeed, the splitting of atoms can be used to produce vast amounts of energy, as in atom bombs.
There is not an atom of truth to what he said. give me just one atom of information about the novel's surprise ending
Recent Examples on the WebThere’s nothing natural about the atom bomb, or a self replicating nanobot that will eat the Earth. Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 9 Sep. 2022 Imagine a rock smashing into the ground with a force 150 times greater than an atom bomb. Michael Salerno, The Arizona Republic, 6 Sep. 2022 Pale reeds swoop around the perimeter like electrons orbiting an atom’s nucleus. Cate Mcquaid, BostonGlobe.com, 30 Aug. 2022 In the mid-1950s, the US government, and the Pentagon, in particular, hoarded information as compulsively as atom bombs.WIRED, 19 Aug. 2022 And that subsequence super atom is very good at slowing the speed of light. Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 16 Aug. 2022 Two-for-one Graphene and molybdenum disulfide form sheets that are only one atom thick—all the chemical bonds holding the sheet together force it into a planar structure. John Timmer, Ars Technica, 27 Apr. 2022 Per Deadline, Nolan's twelfth movie Oppenheimer focuses on theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who played a key role in the research process and development of the atom bomb during the 1940s. Emma Dibdin, Town & Country, 21 July 2022 That’s what a permanent magnet is — a bunch of little superconducting loops, one in each atom. Sumeet Kulkarni, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Latin atomus, from Greek atomos, from atomos indivisible, from a- + temnein to cut