electron
/ɪˈlɛk.tɹɑn/noun
electron is spelled E-L-E-C-T-R-O-N: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 6.6 times per million words in written English, the 9,313th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, electron means “The subatomic particle having a negative charge and orbiting the nucleus; the flow of electrons in a conductor constitutes electricity” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of electron is electrons.
How many letters and syllables are in electron?
| Letters | 8: E-L-E-C-T-R-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 6.6 times per million words; the 9,313th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is electron?
Electron appears 6.6 times per million words in written English, the 9,313th 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 electron?
- UK /ɪˈlɛk.tɹɒn/
- US /ɪˈlɛk.tɹɑn/
Electron has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-electron.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of electron
- electrons plural
- electrion
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does electron mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The subatomic particle having a negative charge and orbiting the nucleus; the flow of electrons in a conductor constitutes electricity.
- 2
obsoleteAlloys of magnesium and other metals, like aluminum or zinc, that were manufactured by the German company Chemische Fabrik Griesheim-Elektron⁽ᵈᵉ⁾.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Electron in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the negatively charged subatomic particles that orbit atoms:
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 electron come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).