Who coined the word 'atom'?

Correct answer: (b) Democritus

Explanation

The word atom comes from the Greek atomos, "uncuttable" or "indivisible". The Greek philosopher Democritus (about 460–370 BC), following his teacher Leucippus, used it for the tiny particles that he said all matter is made of.

In India, Maharshi Kanada put forward a similar idea of indivisible particles (paramanu) in the Vaisheshika Sutra. John Dalton gave the first scientific atomic theory in 1808, J. J. Thomson discovered the electron (1897) and Ernest Rutherford the nucleus (1911).