atom
at·om[ˈæɾm̩]noun
atom is spelled A-T-O-M: 4 letters and 2 syllables (at·om). It appears 5.2 times per million words in written English, the 10,843rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, atom means “The smallest possible amount of matter which still retains its identity as a chemical element, now known to consist of a nucleus surrounded by…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of atom is atoms.
How many letters and syllables are in atom?
| Letters | 4: A-T-O-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: at·om |
| In writing | 5.2 times per million words; the 10,843rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is atom?
Atom appears 5.2 times per million words in written English, the 10,843rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce atom?
- /ˈætəm/
- US [ˈæɾm̩]
- US [ˈæɾəm]
Atom has 2 syllables, split at·om in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-atom.ogg, En-au-atom.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with atom
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with atom?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as atom.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: moat, atmo.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of atom
- atoms plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does atom mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The smallest possible amount of matter which still retains its identity as a chemical element, now known to consist of a nucleus surrounded by electrons.
- 2
A hypothetical particle posited by Greek philosophers as an ultimate and indivisible component of matter.
- 3
The smallest, indivisible constituent part or unit of something.
- 4
In logical atomism, a fundamental fact that cannot be further broken down.
- 5
The smallest medieval unit of time, equal to fifteen ninety-fourths of a second.
- 6
A mote of dust in a sunbeam.
- 7
A very small amount; a whit.
- 8
An individual number or symbol, as opposed to a list; a scalar value.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Atom in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense chemistry, physics: smallest possible amount of matter retaining its chemical pr:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does atom come from?
From Middle English attome, from Middle French athome, from Latin atomus (“smallest particle”), from Ancient Greek ἄτομος (átomos, “indivisible”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + τέμνω (témnō, “to cut”, o-grade in τομ-) + -ος (-os). Atoms are so named because they were historically thought up as to be the smallest unit of matter, and thus indivisible. Doublet of atomus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).