ENGLISH
REFERENCE

neutrino

n.
C1 Advanced US //nuˈtɹinoʊ// UK //njuːtɹˈiːnəʊ// neu·tri·no

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.


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.

Origin

Coined by Italian physicist Enrico Fermi in 1933 from neutron + the Italian diminutive suffix -ino; by surface analysis, neutr(o)- + -ino.

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