phân tử

See also: phân từ and phần tử

Sino-Vietnamese word from 分子, composed of 分 (“to divide”) and 子 (“child; small thing”), from Japanese 分子 (bunshi), irregularly adapted from Middle Chinese 分子 (pjun tsiX, “numerator”, literally “division child”) (a regular form of the Japanese word would be 分子 (*funshi)). As a mathematical term, it is opposed to 分母 (pjun muwX, “denominator”, literally “division mother”), and both were mentioned in The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art. Later extended to physics in the 20th century. The voiceless obstruent /p/ in the Middle Chinese 分 (pjun, “to divide”) resulted in the ngang tone, as opposed to phần tử. Doublet of phần tử. Cognate with Mandarin 分子 (fēnzǐ) and Cantonese 分子 (fan1 zi2).