PARTICLE

(Lat. pariicula, little part.) In Grammar, a general term to expre the subordinate or secondary parts of speech — the adverb, the preposition, and the conjunction.Butit is more in accordance with grammatical precision to apply this term to those minor words to be met with in all languages, which serve apparently to give clearne and precision to a sentence, but respecting whose exact use Grammarians are not agreed. To this cla belong the Gr. yt, apa, rot, in, .; the Germ, ja, wohl, .; and the English now, then, truly, . The term particle is also applied by grammarians to those words or enclitics (as they are called, from Gr. tv and k\ivu>, I lean) which cannot be used separately, but must form part of the preceding word, as in viruntqve. Particle, in Physics, denotes the minutest parts into which a body can be mechanically divided. It is, in general, used synonymously with molecule, corpuscle, atom; but sometimes these terms are distinguished. [s. 917]