How to pronounce fermion
Say it like FUR-mih-on. Fermion has three syllables, and the main stress falls on the first one (FUR).
Click the play button next to American or British to hear how to pronounce fermion. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- FUR
- mih
- on
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Fermion pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- FURSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "ur" in nurse.
- mihKeep this part quick and light. The vowel is the "i" in sit.
- onKeep this part quick and light. The vowel is the "ah" in father.
American vs British pronunciation of fermion
- Americans pronounce the r after a vowel; most British speakers leave it silent and lengthen the vowel instead.
- The short o is rounded in British English (as in "hot"), but open and unrounded in American English.
British respelling: FUR-mih-on.
What does fermion mean?
- Any elementary or composite particle that has half-integer spin and thus obeys Fermi–Dirac statistics and the Pauli exclusion principle (equivalently, a particle for which the wavefunction of any system of identical such particles changes sign whenever two are swapped); a baryon, a lepton or a quark“The fermions treated by the Standard Model are the (composite) baryons and the (elementary) leptons and quarks.”
- any such particle or any composite particle composed of fermions.
Where does fermion come from?
From Fermi + -on. Named after Italian-American physicist Enrico Fermi.
Questions about saying fermion
How do you pronounce fermion?
Say FUR-mih-on. The American pronunciation is /ˈfɝmɪɑn/. In British English it is /ˈfɜːmɪɒn/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in fermion?
Fermion has three syllables, and the main stress falls on the first one (FUR). Broken into parts: FUR · mih · on.
Is fermion pronounced differently in British English?
Yes. Americans pronounce the r after a vowel; most British speakers leave it silent and lengthen the vowel instead. The British form is /ˈfɜːmɪɒn/ (FUR-mih-on).