What does "boson" mean?

A particle with totally symmetric composite quantum states, which exempts them from the Pauli exclusion principle, and that hence obeys Bose-Einstein statistics. They have integer spin. Among them are many elementary particles, and some (gauge bosons) are known to carry the fundamental forces. Compare fermion.

What is a synonym for "boson"?

Common synonyms include: auditor, big brother, bo's'n, bo'sun, bos'n, boss.

Boson

//ˈboʊ.zɑn// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
A particle with totally symmetric composite quantum states, which exempts them from the Pauli exclusion principle, and that hence obeys Bose-Einstein statistics. They have integer spin. Among them are many elementary particles, and some (gauge bosons) are known to carry the fundamental forces. Compare fermion. particle
2
A boatswain. obsolete
"Anth. Where is the Maſter, Boſon ?"
3
any particle that obeys Bose-Einstein statistics but not the Pauli exclusion principle; all nuclei with an even mass number are bosons wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

auditor big brother bo's'n bo'sun bos'n boss

Example

More examples

"The Higgs boson has been called the God particle."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Bose + -on. Named after Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose (1894–1974); coined by English physicist Paul Dirac in 1945 in a lecture titled "Developments in Atomic Theory".

Etymology 2

Contraction of boatswain.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.