What does "photodisintegration" mean?

Any nuclear reaction, especially a nuclear fission, initiated by absorption of high-energy electromagnetic radiation such as a gamma ray.

How do you pronounce "photodisintegration"?

Pronounced //ˈfoʊ.toʊ.dɪ.sɪɾ̃.əˌɡɹeɪ.ʃən//.

Common synonyms include: atom smashing, atomization, bombardment, breeding, bullet, chain reaction.

//ˈfoʊ.toʊ.dɪ.sɪɾ̃.əˌɡɹeɪ.ʃən// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Any nuclear reaction, especially a nuclear fission, initiated by absorption of high-energy electromagnetic radiation such as a gamma ray.

From photo- + disintegration.

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