[uh-tom-ik] Pronunciation Key | 1. | of, pertaining to, resulting from, or using atoms, atomic energy, or atomic bombs: an atomic explosion. |
| 2. | propelled or driven by atomic energy: an atomic submarine. |
| 3. | Chemistry. existing as free, uncombined atoms. |
| 4. | extremely minute. |
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
| a·tom·ic
(ə-tŏm'ĭk) Pronunciation Key
adj.
a·tom'i·cal·ly adv. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
| atomic | |
adjective | |
| 1. | of or relating to or comprising atoms; "atomic structure"; "atomic hydrogen" |
| 2. | (weapons) deriving destructive energy from the release of atomic energy; "nuclear war"; "nuclear weapons"; "atomic bombs" [syn: nuclear] [ant: conventional] |
| 3. | immeasurably small |
atomic
(ə-tŏm'ĭk) Pronunciation Key
|
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
atomic jargon
(From Greek "atomos", indivisible) Indivisible; cannot be split up.
For example, an instruction may be said to do several things "atomically", i.e. all the things are done immediately, and there is no chance of the instruction being half-completed or of another being interspersed. Used especially to convey that an operation cannot be interrupted.
An atomic data type has no internal structure visible to the program. It can be represented by a flat domain (all elements are equally defined). Machine integers and Booleans are two examples.
An atomic database transaction is one which is guaranteed to complete successfully or not at all. If an error prevents a partially-performed transaction from proceeding to completion, it must be "backed out" to prevent the database being left in an inconsistent state.
[The Jargon File]
(2000-04-03)
atomic
adj. [from Gk. `atomos', indivisible]1. Indivisible; cannot be split up. For example, an instruction may be said to do several things `atomically', i.e., all the things are done immediately, and there is no chance of the instruction being half-completed or of another being interspersed. Used esp. to convey that an operation cannot be screwed up by interrupts. "This routine locks the file and increments the file's semaphore atomically."
2. [primarily techspeak] Guaranteed to complete successfully or not at all, usu. refers to database transactions. If an error prevents a partially-performed transaction from proceeding to completion, it must be "backed out," as the database must not be left in an inconsistent state.
Computer usage, in either of the above senses, has none of the connotations that `atomic' has in mainstream English (i.e. of particles of matter, nuclear explosions etc.).
Atomic City, ID (city, FIPS 3970) Location: 43.44429 N, 112.81255 W
Population (1990): 25 (23 housing units)
Area: 0.3 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Atomic
A*tom"ic\, Atomical \A*tom"ic*al\, a. [Cf. F. atomique.]1. Of or pertaining to atoms. 2. Extremely minute; tiny. 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.
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