Other forms: quanta
Quantum belongs to the physics of the very smallest things. Quantum mechanics, quantum theory, a quantum computer.
The central idea is that energy comes in discrete packets, or quanta, rather than in a smooth flow — which is where the name comes from. Quantum mechanics is the most accurately tested theory in science and the least intuitive. A quantum leap in ordinary speech means an enormous advance, which reverses the physics, where a quantum jump is the smallest change possible. Note the plural quanta, and quantum entanglement.
1adjectivequantumBelonging to the physics of the very smallest things.
“Quantum mechanics predicts about a dozen things nobody would guess.”
2nounpossibleThe smallest possible amount of something.
“Energy arrives in quanta rather than in a smooth stream.”
quantum is a smallest unit, or a field of physics.
Latin quantum means how much, the neuter of quantus. Max Planck used it in 1900 for the smallest possible packet of energy, so the word for how much became the name of the smallest amount there is.
Latin
quantum
English, today
quantum
From Latin quantum, noun use of neuter form of Latin quantus (“how much”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Science & Space