molecule
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Structural formula and two molecule models (ball-and-stick and space-filling) of caffeine.
See also: molécule
English
Etymology
From French molécule, from New Latin molecula (“a molecule”), diminutive of Latin moles (“a mass”); see mole + -cule.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈmɒl.ə.kjuːl/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈmɑl.ə.kjul/
- Hyphenation: mol‧e‧cule
Noun
molecule (plural molecules or moleculae or moleculæ)
- (chemistry) The smallest particle of a specific element or compound that retains the chemical properties of that element or compound; two or more atoms held together by chemical bonds.
- Hydrogen chloride is a diatomic molecule, consisting of a hydrogen atom and a chlorine atom.
- 2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist, Sigma Xi, →OCLC, archived from the original on 3 September 2013:
- The critical component of the photosynthetic system is the “water-oxidizing complex”, made up of manganese atoms and a calcium atom. This system splits water molecules and delivers some of their electrons to other molecules that help build up carbohydrates.
- A tiny amount.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:molecule
- (small amount): see also Thesaurus:modicum.
Hyponyms
Meronyms
Derived terms
- antimolecule
- astromolecule
- bimolecule
- biomolecule
- cell adhesion molecule
- cell-adhesion molecule
- fuel molecule
- giant molecule
- glycomolecule
- gram molecule
- immunomolecule
- metamolecule
- micromolecule
- molfile
- nanomolecule
- phytomolecule
- polycule
- polymolecule
- protomolecule
- pseudomolecule
- quasimolecule
- Rydberg molecule
- single-molecule magnet
- small molecule drug
- submolecule
- supermolecule
- supramolecule
Related terms
Translations
group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
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References
- ^ 1674, Pierre Le Gallois, Conversations tirées de l'Académie de M. l'abbé Bourdelot, contenant diverses recherches et observations physiques, cited in Quemada, Bernard (1965), Datations et documents lexicographiques (tome 3)
- ^ early XVII cent., Pierre Gassendi, cited in Le Grand Robert de la Langue Française (2e édn) tome 6. →ISBN. pp. 522–23.
Dutch
Pronunciation
Noun
molecule n or f or m (plural moleculen or molecules, diminutive moleculetje n)
- Alternative form of molecuul.
Friulian
Noun
molecule f (plural moleculis)