An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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Any of a group of four short-lived → mesons distinguished by a → quantum number called → strangeness. Also called K meson and denoted K. They are positive, negative, or neutral and have a mass of about 495 MeV/c (about 970 times that of an → electron).

Kaon, from ka (for the letter K) + (mes)on, → meson.