Word
neutrino
Phoneticsneu·tri·no
US/nuˈtɹinoʊ/
UK/njuːtɹˈiːnəʊ/
Definition
n. a tiny particle that moves very fast and is almost impossible to stop. It is found in nature and is used in science to study things like the sun and stars.
n. an elementary particle with a very small mass and no electric charge, which interacts very weakly with other matter. It is produced in nuclear reactions and is essential for understanding stellar processes and the universe's energy balance.
Examples
“The neutrino travels through the Earth almost without slowing down.”
“Scientists use massive underground detectors to observe neutrinos because they rarely interact with the material around them.”
“The detection of a neutrino burst provided the first direct evidence of a supernova occurring in a distant galaxy, confirming long-standing theories about stellar collapse.”
Examples
simple
“The neutrino travels through the Earth almost without slowing down.”
contextual
“Scientists use massive underground detectors to observe neutrinos because they rarely interact with the material around them.”
complex
“The detection of a neutrino burst provided the first direct evidence of a supernova occurring in a distant galaxy, confirming long-standing theories about stellar collapse.”
Real-World Examples
“By determining the exact amount of helium, the team was able to calculate the number of neutrino families —the lightest subatomic particles—present in the early universe.” “Initial results from JUNO-TAO, presented at Neutrino 2026, show that researchers are also using reactor-off data to study the faint antineutrino signal produced by spent nuclear fuel.” Etymology
Coined by Italian physicist Enrico Fermi in 1933 from neutron + the Italian diminutive suffix -ino; by surface analysis, neutr(o)- + -ino.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.