Meaning of photon in English:


Pronunciation /ˈfəʊtɒn/

Translate photon into Spanish


  • A particle representing a quantum of light or other electromagnetic radiation. A photon carries energy proportional to the radiation frequency but has zero rest mass.

    ‘The world of the realist is populated by electrons and photons, quarks and gluons.’
    • ‘Until now, physicists have only been able to entangle photons, electrons and atoms, using different methods in each case.’
    • ‘A photon has zero rest mass, but it carries energy and momentum.’
    • ‘Tiny particles such as photons or atoms can readily be put into a quantum superposition existing in two different states or places at once.’
    • ‘The team has also made progress in using photons to carry quantum information between calcium qubits.’


Early 20th century from Greek phōs, phōt- ‘light’, on the pattern of electron.