particle

The definition of a particle is a very small amount of something.

(noun)

An example of a particle is a speck of dust.

See particle in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

1. an extremely small piece; tiny fragment: a dust particle
2. the slightest trace; speck: not a particle of truth
Archaic a clause or article in a document
Gram.
1. a short, usually uninflected and invariable part of speech used to express a syntactic or semantic relationship, as an article or any of certain prepositions, conjunctions, or interjections
2. a prefix or derivational suffix
Physics elementary particle
R.C.Ch. a small piece of the consecrated Host or any of the small Hosts given to lay communicants

Origin: ME partycle < MFr particule < L particula, dim. of pars, part

See particle in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

A very small piece or part; a tiny portion or speck.
A very small or the smallest possible amount, trace, or degree: not a particle of doubt.
Physics
a. A body whose spatial extent and internal motion and structure, if any, are irrelevant in a specific problem.
b. An elementary particle.
c. A subatomic particle. See Table at subatomic particle.
Linguistics
a. An uninflected item that has grammatical function but does not clearly belong to one of the major parts of speech, such as up in He looked up the word or to in English infinitives.
b. In some systems of grammatical analysis, any of various short function words, including articles, prepositions, and conjunctions.
Roman Catholic Church
a. A small piece of a consecrated host.
b. One of the smaller, individual hosts.
Archaic A small division or section of something written, such as a clause of a document.