atomic

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /əˈtɒm.ɪk/, US /əˈtɑː.mɪk/^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from atom and -ic,^[2] or from New Latin atomicus, from atomus, indivisible.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pertaining to atoms, as a term of philosophy, especially the atomism of Leucippus and Democritus: the 1670s in Etymonline, 1678 in the OED;^[2][4] Merriam-Webster gives 1658.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The scientific sense dates from 1811, with the atomic theory in chemistry.^[2][4] Atomic number is attested from 1821 and atomic mass from 1848.^[2] Atomic energy in the modern sense, energy released from atomic nuclei, is recorded by 1906 (intra-atomic energy from 1903).^[2][4] The atomic bomb is first recorded in 1914, in Wells's novel The World Set Free.^[2] In logic, atomic describes a sentence with no internal structure.^[6]

Timeline

• 1658 – atomic.^[5]
• 1678 – philosophical atomism.^[4]
• 1811 – atomic theory.^[2][4]
• 1906 – atomic energy.^[2][4]
• 1914 – atomic bomb (Wells).^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Of or relating to an atom or atoms.
2. Using or relating to nuclear energy or nuclear weapons: atomic warfare.
3. Very small; minute.

Word family

• atomically
• diatomic
• interatomic
• monoatomic
• nonatomic
• polyatomic
• postatomic
• preatomic

Related words

• atom
• nuclear
• atomize

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins