An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

European Organization for Nuclear Research, founded in 1954, and located on the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, Switzerland. CERN is one of the world’s largest centres for scientific research. At CERN, the world’s largest and most complex scientific instruments are used to study the basic constituents of matter, i.e. the → elementary particles. The instruments used at CERN are particle → accelerators and → detectors. Currently it has 20 Member States.

See also: CERN, acronym of the organization’s original name Centre Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire.