Gluons

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Particles that act as carriers of the strong nuclear force, binding quarks together and maintaining the stability of atomic nuclei
2. Fundamental particles that facilitate the strong force, ensuring quarks remain connected and nucleons hold together in atoms
3. Subatomic particles responsible for transmitting the strong interaction between quarks inside atomic nuclei

Etymology: The particle is named for glue, though the physics behind it is far from sticky in any everyday sense. American physicist Murray Gell-Mann coined the term in 1962, when he needed a name for the carrier of the force that binds quarks together inside protons and neutrons. He built it from "glue" and the suffix "-on," the same ending that marks other particles such as the electron, so the name describes the job: a particle that holds other particles together. The word "glue" has a long road behind it. It traces back through Latin "glūten" and Old French "glu" to a Proto-Indo-European root, and entered English as "glew" in Middle English. The ending has its own history, borrowed from Ancient Greek "-on," which was used to form names of elementary particles.