quark
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quark¹
- /kwɑːk/ UK
- /kwɑɹk/ US
- /kwɔɹk/ dated
Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)k, -ɔː(ɹ)k
Where it comes from
Etymology 1 sense 1 (“subatomic particle”) was coined by the American physicist Murray Gell-Mann (1929–2019) in 1963, apparently an arbitrary word. Subsequently, in a letter dated 27 June 1978 to the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary Supplement, Gell-Mann associated the word with the sentence “Three quarks for Muster Mark!” from James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake (1939) and indicated that he pronounced the word /kwɔɹk/, reasoning that the sentence referred to a call in a pub for “three quarts”. However, the context in the book indicates that quark is probably a variant of quawk (“harsh call of a bird”) and was intended by Joyce to be pronounced /kwɑːk/, the modern pronunciation.
noun quarks
-
In the Standard Model, one of a number of elementary subatomic particles having fractional electric charge that forms matter. They are theorized not to exist in isolation, but only in combinations in hadrons such as neutrons and protons or in quark–gluon plasmas.
A simpler and more elegant scheme can be constructed if we allow non-integral values for the charges. We can dispense entirely with the basic baryon b if we assign to the triplet t the following properties: spin #92;frac#123;1#125;#123;2#125;, z#61;#123;-#92;frac#123;1#125;#123;3
Similar: ace
- An integer that uniquely identifies a text string. Two functions are provided to convert between strings and quarks: XrmStringToQuark and XrmQuarkToString […] The second takes a quark as its parameter and returns a pointer to its associated string; it is used primarily for debugging and runtime error messages.
- A nonsense, trivial text string.
quark²
- /kwɑːk/ UK
- /kvɑːk/
- /kwɑɹk/ US
Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)k
Where it comes from
[Alt: A spoonful of quark cheese served with tomato slices on a plate]
Borrowed from German Quark (“cottage cheese; curds; curd cheese”). Doublet of tvorog and twaróg.
noun
- A soft, creamy, unripened cheese made from cow's milk, originating from and eaten throughout central, northern, eastern, and southeastern Europe, as well as the Low Countries.
Similar: quark
quark³
- /kwɑːk/ UK
- /kwɑɹk/ US
Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)k
Where it comes from
Onomatopoeic, from the sound of the squawk.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: gluon, quarg, quark model, quarkonium, quark matter, quark-antiquark, bottom quark, quark theory, quark star, subquark, cryptoquark, top quark, down quark, quasiquark, diquark, up quark
noun
Similar: quark
noun
Similar: quark
Translations
Every language
noun one of a number of elementary subatomic particles having fractional electric charge that forms matter
| Español | quark, cuark |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 쿼크 kwokeu |
| 日本語 | クォーク kuwōku |
| 中文 | 夸克 kuākè, 層子 /层子 céngzǐ |
| हिन्दी | क्वार्क kvārk |
| Português | quark |
| Français | quark |
| Deutsch | Quark |
| Italiano | quark |
| Ελληνικά | κουάρκ kouárk |
| Română | quark |
| Русский | кварк kvark |
| Tiếng Việt | quắc |
| العربية | كِوَرْك kiwark |
| עברית | קווארק kavark |
noun soft, creamy, unripened cheese made from cow’s milk
| Español | quark, requesón |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 크바르크 keubareukeu |
| 日本語 | クワルク kuwaruku, クォークチーズ kuōku chīzu |
| हिन्दी | क्वार्क kvārk |
| Português | quark |
| Français | quark, caillé, faisselle, fromage blanc, maquée |
| Deutsch | Quark |
| Italiano | quark |
| Русский | тво́рог tvórog, творо́г tvoróg |
| العربية | كُوَارْك kuwārk |
| עברית | גבינת קווארק |
Talk about this word "quark." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/quark. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. quark. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/quark "quark." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/quark.Cite this
@misc{quark_2026,
title = {quark},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/quark},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
