Phrase guide

nuclear reactor

noun · 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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1

noun

Meaning 1

Any device in which a controlled chain reaction is maintained for the purpose of creating heat (for power generation) or for creating neutrons and other fission products for experimental, medical or other purposes.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

Examples

  • Meronym: control rod
  • Near-synonym: atomic pile (dated)

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: atomic pile

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: reactor, device, apparatus

2

noun

Meaning 2

(physics) any of several kinds of apparatus that maintain and control a nuclear reaction for the production of energy or artificial elements

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: reactor

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: apparatus, setup

Narrower terms: atomic pile, atomic reactor, pile, chain reactor, breeder reactor, fast reactor, gas-cooled reactor, liquid metal reactor, thermal reactor, thermonuclear reactor, fusion reactor, water-cooled reactor

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

64 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مُفَاعِل نَوَوِيّ (mufāʕil nawawiyy) — device
  • Armenian: միջուկային ռեակտոր (miǰukayin ṙeaktor) — device
  • Azerbaijani: nüvə reaktoru — device
  • Basque: erreaktore nuklear — device
  • Belarusian: ядзерны рэактар (jadzjerny reaktar) — device
  • Bulgarian: ядрен реактор (jadren reaktor) — device
  • Catalan: reactor nuclear — device
  • Chinese Cantonese: 核反應堆 /核反应堆 (hat6 faan2 jing3 deoi1) — device
  • Chinese Mandarin: 核反應堆 /核反应堆 (hé fǎnyìngduī) — device
  • Chinese Mandarin: 原子爐 /原子炉 (yuánzǐlú) — device
  • Czech: jaderný reaktor — device
  • Danish: atomreaktor — device
  • Dutch: kernreactor — device
  • Esperanto: nuklea reakciujo — device
  • Esperanto: nuklea reaktoro — device
  • Estonian: tuumareaktor — device
  • Finnish: ydinreaktori — device
  • French: réacteur nucléaire — device
  • Galician: reactor nuclear — device
  • Georgian: ბირთვული რეაქტორი (birtvuli reakṭori) — device
  • German: Kernreaktor — device
  • German: Kernmeiler — device
  • German: Atomreaktor — device
  • German: Atommeiler — device
  • Greek: πυρηνικός αντιδραστήρας (pyrinikós antidrastíras) — device
  • Gujarati: અણુભઠ્ઠી (aṇubhaṭhṭhī) — device
  • Hebrew: כור גרעיני (kur garení) — device
  • Hindi: परमाणु भट्ठी (parmāṇu bhaṭṭhī) — device
  • Hindi: नाभिकीय भट्ठी (nābhikīya bhaṭṭhī) — device
  • Hungarian: atomreaktor — device
  • Icelandic: kjarnaofn — device
  • Icelandic: kjarnakljúfur — device
  • Indonesian: reaktor nuklir — device
  • Italian: reattore nucleare — device
  • Japanese: 原子炉 (genshiro) — device
  • Kazakh: ядролық реактор, атомдық реактор (ädrolyq reaktor, atomdyq reaktor) — device
  • Korean: 원자로 (wonjaro) — device
  • Latvian: kodolreaktors — device
  • Lithuanian: branduolinis reaktorius — device
  • Malay: reaktor nuklear — device
  • Norwegian Bokmål: atomreaktor — device
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kjernereaktor — device
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kjernereaktor — device
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: atomreaktor — device
  • Persian: رآکتور هستهای (re-âktor-e haste-'i) — device
  • Persian: واکنشگاه هستهای (vâkonešgâh-e haste-'i) — device
  • Polish: reaktor jądrowy — device
  • Portuguese: reator nuclear — device
  • Romanian: reactor nuclear — device
  • Russian: я́дерный реа́ктор (jádernyj reáktor) — device
  • Serbo-Croatian: нуклеарни реактор — device
  • Serbo-Croatian: nuklearni reaktor — device
  • Slovak: jadrový reaktor — device
  • Slovene: jedrski reaktor — device
  • Spanish: reactor nuclear — device
  • Swedish: kärnreaktor — device
  • Tagalog: tambisaan — device
  • Tagalog: reaktor nuklear — device
  • Tamil: அணுக்கரு உலை (aṇukkaru ulai) — device
  • Thai: เครื่องปฏิกรณ์นิวเคลียร์ (krêuang bpà-dtì-gon-niu-klia) — device
  • Turkish: nükleer reaktör — device
  • Ukrainian: я́дерний реа́ктор (jádernyj reáktor) — device
  • Vietnamese: lò phản ứng hạt nhân — device
  • Welsh: adweithydd niwclear — device