einstein

See also: Einstein

English

Etymology 1

Photochemistry sense named in honor of Albert Einstein, who explained the photoelectric effect. Informal sense from the widespread perception that Albert Einstein was a great genius.

Noun

einstein (plural einsteins)

1. (photochemistry, dated) One mole of photons, regardless of frequency, as used to measure irradiance.

   The einstein (symbol E) is an obsolete unit with two conflicting definitions.

2. (informal) A genius; a very smart person.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:intelligent person

   He's a prodigy — they call him their little einstein.

   1. (by extension, informal, sarcastic) An idiot; a very stupid person.

      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:idiot

      Yeah, that guy is a real einstein — he always finds a way to mess up the simplest order.

Derived terms

• (one mole of photons): microeinstein

Translations

one mole of photons

• Polish: ajnsztajn (pl) m, einstein (pl) m

See also

• (fool): no shit, Sherlock

Etymology 2

From German ein Stein, "one stone", coined by scientists in recent decades, but with tongue-in-cheek tacit acknowledgment of the homonymy with einstein and Einstein; "a pun playing with the famous scientist's name and the German term "ein Stein" for "one stone".

Noun

einstein (plural einsteins)

1. (mathematics, physics) A shape that can be repeated to cover a plane with a nonrepeating pattern.
   • 2023 March 28, Siobhan Roberts, “Elusive ‘Einstein’ Solves a Longstanding Math Problem. And it all began with a hobbyist “messing about and experimenting with shapes””, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2 February 2026:

     In less poetic terms, an einstein is an “aperiodic monotile,” a shape that tiles a plane, or an infinite two-dimensional flat surface, but only in a nonrepeating pattern. (The term “einstein” comes from the German “ein stein,” or “one stone” — more loosely, “one tile” or “one shape.”)

See also

• aperiodic, monotiling, tessellation

Anagrams

• Nineties, nineties

Polish

Chemical element (edit)
Es Atomic number 99 einstein
Classification data Period 7 Group 3 Block f-block Class actinide
Previous: ← kaliforn (Cf)
Next: ferm (Fm) →

Etymology

Named after German physicist Albert Einstein.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈajn.ʂtajn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ajnʂtajn
• Syllabification: ein‧stein
• Homophones: ajnsztajn, Einstein

Noun

einstein m inan

1. (physics) alternative spelling of ajnsztajn
2. einsteinium (element with atomic number 99)

Declension

Declension of einstein

	singular	plural
nominative	einstein	einsteiny
genitive	einsteinu	einsteinów
dative	einsteinowi	einsteinom
accusative	einstein	einsteiny
instrumental	einsteinem	einsteinami
locative	einsteinie	einsteinach
vocative	einsteinie	einsteiny

Noun

einstein m pers

1. (colloquial, sometimes sarcastic) Einstein, einstein (extremely clever or intelligent person)

Declension

Declension of einstein

	singular	plural
nominative	einstein	einsteini, einsteiny1
genitive	einsteina	einsteinów
dative	einsteinowi	einsteinom
accusative	einsteina	einsteinów
instrumental	einsteinem	einsteinami
locative	einsteinie	einsteinach
vocative	einsteinie	einsteini

¹Deprecative.

Related terms

nouns

• ajnsztajn
• Einstein

Further reading

• “einstein”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[2] (in Polish)