Standard Lemma guide

photoelectron

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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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An electron ejected from the surface of a material by the photoelectric effect.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

an electron that is emitted from an atom or molecule by an incident photon

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: electron, negatron

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bheh2- Proto-Indo-European *bhéh2os Proto-Hellenic *pháwos Ancient Greek φᾰ́ος (phắos) Ancient Greek φῶς (phôs) Ancient Greek φωτο- (phōto-)der. English photo- New Latin ēlectricusbor. English electric Proto-Indo-European *h1ey- Proto-Indo-European *h1éyti Proto-Hellenic *éimi Ancient Greek ἰόν (ión)der. English ion English electron English photoelectron From photo- + electron.

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: fotoelectró — electron
  • Chinese Mandarin: 光電子 /光电子 (guāngdiànzǐ) — electron
  • French: photoélectron — electron
  • Greek: φωτοηλεκτρόνιο (fotoïlektrónio) — electron
  • Irish: fótaileictreon — electron
  • Italian: fotoelettrone — electron
  • Japanese: 光電子 (kōdenshi) — electron
  • Polish: fotoelektron — electron
  • Spanish: fotoelectrón — electron
  • Ukrainian: фотоелектро́н (fotoelektrón) — electron