1.
[syn: corpuscular theory, corpuscular theory of light]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Corpuscular \Cor*pus"cu*lar\ (k?r-p?s"k?-l?r), a. [Cf. F.
corpusculaire.]
Pertaining to, or composed of, corpuscles, or small
particles.
[1913 Webster]
Corpuscular philosophy, that which attempts to account for
the phenomena of nature, by the motion, figure, rest,
position, etc., of the minute particles of matter.
Corpuscular theory (Opt.), the theory enunciated by Sir
Isaac Newton, that light consists in the emission and
rapid progression of minute particles or corpuscles. The
theory is now generally rejected, and supplanted by the
undulatory theory.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
corpuscular theory
n 1: (physics) the theory that light is transmitted as a stream
of particles [syn: corpuscular theory, corpuscular
theory of light] [ant: undulatory theory, wave theory,
wave theory of light]