electron
n. countablen. a tiny part of an atom that has a negative electrical charge. These small particles move around the center of the atom and help create electricity.
n. a stable subatomic particle with a charge of negative electricity, found in all atoms and acting as the primary carrier of electricity in solids.
An electron moves around the center of an atom.
In a metal wire, electricity flows when electrons move from one atom to another in a steady stream.
The chemical properties of an element are largely determined by the arrangement of electrons in its outermost shell, which dictates how the atom bonds with others.
Blend of electric + ion, coined by Anglo-Irish scientist George Stoney in 1891, changed by him multiple times from an earlier electrolion and original electrine (used as early as 1874) as the name for the electric charge associated with a univalent ion. Compare electro-, -on. The particle ("corpuscule") was discovered in 1896. The name electrion was proposed for the particle in 1906 but curtailed because Hendrik Lorentz preferred electron.
Commonly used in the plural when discussing electrical current or chemical bonding.