antilepton
|an-ti-lep-ton|
🇺🇸
/ˌæn.tiˈlɛp.tən/
🇬🇧
/ˌæn.tiˈlɛp.tɒn/
antiparticle of a lepton
Etymology
'antilepton' originates from Modern English, formed from the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti' meaning 'against' or 'opposite') combined with 'lepton' (from Greek 'leptón' meaning 'small, thin').
'lepton' was adopted into English in the 20th century from Greek 'leptós' meaning 'small' to name a class of light elementary particles; later in 20th-century particle physics the compound 'antilepton' was formed to denote the antiparticle of a lepton.
Initially, the root 'lepton' carried the sense 'small' or 'light'; over time it became the technical term for a class of elementary particles, and 'antilepton' came to mean specifically the antiparticle counterpart of those particles.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the antiparticle corresponding to a lepton (a class of elementary particles such as the electron, muon, and tau); an antilepton has the same mass as its corresponding lepton but opposite internal quantum numbers (e.g., electric charge).
An antilepton has the same mass as its corresponding lepton but opposite electric charge.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/09/02 17:06