mcdonald

IPA/məkdˈɒnəld/
KK[məkdˈɑnəld]IPA/məkdˈɑːnəld/

mcdonald — noun

1. Arthur Bruce McDonald (born 1943), a Canadian physicist who won the 2015 Nobel P

1.noun
Definition

Arthur Bruce McDonald (born 1943), a Canadian physicist who won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics. His team at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory proved that neutrinos can change from one type to another, which means these tiny particles have mass.

Example

Arthur McDonald built the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory deep inside a working mine in Ontario.

proper noun as subject; context: physics research

McDonald's discovery of neutrino oscillations proved that these tiny particles can change type.

Common collocations
  • McDonald + discovered
  • McDonald + proved
  • Nobel Prize awarded to McDonald
  • McDonald's experiment
  • McDonald + neutrino

Usage Note

In physics writing, McDonald is usually referred to by his full name (Arthur McDonald) on first mention and by the surname alone thereafter. Do not confuse him with the unrelated fast-food brand McDonald's.

Common Mistakes

McDonald's research' (with possessive apostrophe-S, implying the fast-food chain).
McDonald's research' is actually correct for the physicist
the surname McDonald already ends in -d, so the possessive is McDonald's. But avoid contexts that could confuse the physicist with the restaurant brand.

Etymology

Scottish GaelicEnglish

McDonald is a Scottish and Irish surname from Gaelic Mac Dhomhnuill, meaning 'son of Donald'. The physicist Arthur Bruce McDonald was born in 1943 in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. His discovery of neutrino oscillations at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory earned him the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics.