What does "positron" mean?

The antimatter equivalent of an electron, having the same mass but a positive charge.

What is a synonym for "positron"?

Common synonyms include: antielectron, antielectron, electron.

Pronounced //ˈpɑ.zɪ.tɹɑn//.

//ˈpɑ.zɪ.tɹɑn// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The antimatter equivalent of an electron, having the same mass but a positive charge. particle
"The notion of a positron weapon remains the stuff of science fiction."
2
an elementary particle with positive charge; interaction of a positron and an electron results in annihilation wordnet

"Positron Emission Tomography uses a radioactive tracer to visualize metabolic activity within the human body."

From positive + -tron (electron). Coined by American physicist Carl Anderson in 1932 to replace the earlier term antielectron.

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