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Atomic weight   /ətˈɑmɪk weɪt/   Listen
noun
Weight  n.  
1.
The quality of being heavy; that property of bodies by which they tend toward the center of the earth; the effect of gravitative force, especially when expressed in certain units or standards, as pounds, grams, etc. Note: Weight differs from gravity in being the effect of gravity, or the downward pressure of a body under the influence of gravity; hence, it constitutes a measure of the force of gravity, and being the resultant of all the forces exerted by gravity upon the different particles of the body, it is proportional to the quantity of matter in the body.
2.
The quantity of heaviness; comparative tendency to the center of the earth; the quantity of matter as estimated by the balance, or expressed numerically with reference to some standard unit; as, a mass of stone having the weight of five hundred pounds. "For sorrow, like a heavy-hanging bell, Once set on ringing, with his own weight goes."
3.
Hence, pressure; burden; as, the weight of care or business. "The weight of this said time." "For the public all this weight he bears." "(He) who singly bore the world's sad weight."
4.
Importance; power; influence; efficacy; consequence; moment; impressiveness; as, a consideration of vast weight. "In such a point of weight, so near mine honor."
5.
A scale, or graduated standard, of heaviness; a mode of estimating weight; as, avoirdupois weight; troy weight; apothecaries' weight.
6.
A ponderous mass; something heavy; as, a clock weight; a paper weight. "A man leapeth better with weights in his hands."
7.
A definite mass of iron, lead, brass, or other metal, to be used for ascertaining the weight of other bodies; as, an ounce weight.
8.
(Mech.) The resistance against which a machine acts, as opposed to the power which moves it. (Obs.)
Atomic weight. (Chem.) See under Atomic, and cf. Element.
Dead weight, Feather weight, Heavy weight, Light weight, etc. See under Dead, Feather, etc.
Weight of observation (Astron. & Physics), a number expressing the most probable relative value of each observation in determining the result of a series of observations of the same kind.
Synonyms: Ponderousness; gravity; heaviness; pressure; burden; load; importance; power; influence; efficacy; consequence; moment; impressiveness.


adjective
Atomical, Atomic  adj.  
1.
Of or pertaining to atoms.
2.
Extremely minute; tiny.
Atomic bomb, see atom bomb in the vocabulary.
Atomic philosophy, or Doctrine of atoms, a system which, assuming that atoms are endued with gravity and motion, accounted thus for the origin and formation of all things. This philosophy was first broached by Leucippus, was developed by Democritus, and afterward improved by Epicurus, and hence is sometimes denominated the Epicurean philosophy.
Atomic theory, or the Doctrine of definite proportions (Chem.), teaches that chemical combinations take place between the supposed ultimate particles or atoms of bodies, in some simple ratio, as of one to one, two to three, or some other, always expressible in whole numbers.
Atomic weight (Chem.), the weight of the atom of an element as compared with the weight of the atom of hydrogen, taken as a standard.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Atomic weight" Quotes from Famous Books



... hand, there is evidence arising from the atomic weight of lead which seems to involve some other parent than uranium. Soddy, in the work referred to, points this out. The atomic weight of radium is well known, and uranium in its descent has to change to this element. The loss of mass between radium and uranium-derived lead can be accurately ...
— The Birth-Time of the World and Other Scientific Essays • J. (John) Joly
... atom of nitrogen is 4.66 times heavier than an atom of hydrogen; in other words, if the atomic weight of hydrogen is taken as unity, the atomic weight of nitrogen is expressed by the number 4.66. Dalton referred the atomic weights of the elements to the atomic weight of hydrogen as unity, because hydrogen is lighter than any other substance; hence the numbers which tell how much heavier the atoms of the elements are than an atom of hydrogen are always greater than one, ...
— The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry • M. M. Pattison Muir
... it expresses a real fact is certain, for in the original scheme there were several gaps representing undiscovered elements, the properties of which were predicted from that of their associates in the table. Some of these have since been discovered, and their atomic weight and physical properties accord ...
— The Machinery of the Universe - Mechanical Conceptions of Physical Phenomena • Amos Emerson Dolbear
... this was written, however, men of science have become less unanimous than they formerly were on this point. The veteran chemist Professor Mendeleeff has given reasons for thinking that the ether is an inert gas with an atomic weight a million times less than that of hydrogen, and a velocity of 2250 kilometres per second (Principles of Chemistry, Eng. ed., 1905, vol. ii. p. 526). On the other hand, the well-known physicist Dr A.H. Bucherer, speaking at ...
— The New Physics and Its Evolution • Lucien Poincare
... view of the case, merely, and not shared in to any appreciably extent by the gentlemen who were managing our boarding house. We seemed to view the matter through allopathic spectacles, they through homoeopathic lenses. We thought that the atomic weight of peas (or beans) and the James River fluid were about equal, which would indicate that the proper combining proportions would be, say a bucket of beans (or peas) to a bucket of water. They held that the nutritive potency was increased by the dilution, and the best results were ...
— Andersonville, complete • John McElroy


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