any of a group of elementary particles, such as a pion or kaon, that usually has a rest mass between those of an electron and a proton, and an integral spin. They are responsible for the force between nucleons in the atomic nucleus
See also muon
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
mes•ic1
(mez′ik, mes′-, mē′zik, -sik),USA pronunciation adj.
mes′i•cal•ly, adv.
mes•ic2 (mē′zik, -sik, mez′ik, mes′-),USA pronunciation adj. [Physics.]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- of, pertaining to, or adapted to an environment having a balanced supply of moisture.
- mes- + -ic 1925–30
mes•ic2 (mē′zik, -sik, mez′ik, mes′-),USA pronunciation adj. [Physics.]
- Physicsof or pertaining to a meson;
mesonic.
- mes(on) + -ic 1935–40
me•son
(mē′zon, -son, mez′on, mes′-),USA pronunciation n.
me•son′ic, adj.
- Physicsany hadron, or strongly interacting particle, other than a baryon. Mesons are bosons, having spins of 0, 1, 2, …, and, unlike baryons, do not obey a conservation law. Cf. quark model.
- 1935–40; mes-+ on1; compare mesotron
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'mesic' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):