noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A hypothetical particle that travels faster than the speed of light. particle
2. 2
   A flaw in a physical theory that predicts the existence of tachyons or similar paradoxical results. Compare with ghost.

Synonyms

All synonyms

faster-than-light particlesuperluminal particletachyonic particletachyonic particle

Example

More examples

"I read the article "Stability of a tachyon braneworld.""

Etymology

Formed as: tachy- + -on, from ταχύς (takhús, “swift”, “rapid”). Coined by American physicist Gerald Feinberg in 1967.

Related phrases

speed of light

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