Standard Lemma guide

monatomic

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: M AA2 N AH0 T AA1 M IH0 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of an element, consisting of a single atom in the molecule, for example, the noble gases. Note: Strictly speaking, a molecule has at least two atoms.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective

Meaning 2

of or relating to an element consisting of a single atom

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • helium and argon are monatomic gases

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: monoatomic

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English mon- Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Hellenic *ə- Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) Proto-Indo-European *temh1- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Ancient Greek τέμνω (témnō) Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Hellenic *-ós ▲ Ancient Greek -ος (-os)influ. Ancient Greek -ός (-ós) Ancient Greek *τομός (*tomós) Ancient Greek ἄτομος (átomos)bor. Latin atomusbor. Middle French athomebor. Middle English attome English atom Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic English atomic English monatomic From mon- + atomic.

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: едноатомен (ednoatomen) — consisting of a single atom
  • Esperanto: unuatoma — consisting of a single atom
  • Finnish: yksiatominen — consisting of a single atom
  • French: monoatomique — consisting of a single atom
  • Hungarian: egyatomos — consisting of a single atom
  • Irish: aon-adamhach — consisting of a single atom
  • Italian: monoatomico — consisting of a single atom
  • Norwegian Bokmål: enatomig — consisting of a single atom
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: einatomig — consisting of a single atom
  • Portuguese: monoatómico — consisting of a single atom
  • Portuguese: monoatômico — consisting of a single atom
  • Spanish: monoatómico — consisting of a single atom