soliton

noun

sol·​i·​ton ˈsä-lə-ˌtän How to pronounce soliton (audio)
: a solitary wave (as in a gaseous plasma) that propagates with little loss of energy and retains its shape and speed after colliding with another such wave

Examples of soliton in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Now Kippenberg has teamed with Koos to test a new design that generates special pulses called solitons in the microresonator. — IEEE Spectrum, 7 June 2017 The researchers’ simulations successfully recreated what a topological soliton would look like if placed in front of a camera lens. — Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics, 2 May 2023 The combination of flux-carrying B-L strings and superfluid-like PQ vortices could allow for the emergence of stable knot solitons. — Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 23 Oct. 2025 So, while the frequency of WIMPs should gently decline with distance from the core of a galaxy, axions should form a standing wave (technically, a soliton) that boosts their frequency near the galactic core. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 21 Apr. 2023

Word History

Etymology

solitary + -on entry 2

First Known Use

1965, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of soliton was in 1965

Browse Nearby Words

soliterraneous
soliton
solitude
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Soliton.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/soliton. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on soliton

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about soliton

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All