# photon

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈfəʊtɒn/ · frequency rank #19,167

## Definitions
1. The quantum of light and other electromagnetic energy, regarded as a discrete particle having zero rest mass, no electric charge, and an indefinitely long lifetime. It is a gauge boson.

## Etymology
From photo- + -on. Coined by American physicist Leonard Troland in 1916 as a unit of light hitting the retina, and later popularized in a more modern sense by Gilbert N. Lewis, with the term gaining acceptance in the physics community by the late 1920s.

## Easily confused with
- **poon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/photon-vs-poon)
- **proto** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/photon-vs-proto)
- **piston** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/photon-vs-piston)
- **proton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/photon-vs-proton)
- **potion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/photon-vs-potion)
- **photonic** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/photon-vs-photonic)
- **photo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/photo-vs-photon)
- **Paton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/paton-vs-photon)
- **Peyton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/peyton-vs-photon)
- **Patton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/patton-vs-photon)
- **Paxton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/paxton-vs-photon)
- **Payton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/payton-vs-photon)
- **parton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parton-vs-photon)
- **peloton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/peloton-vs-photon)

## Common misspellings (9)
`hpoton`, `phhoton`, `phootn`, `photno`, `photonn`, `photton`, `phtoon`, `pohton`, `pphoton`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/photon