Definition of "nucleosynthesis" []

• The process by which heavier chemical elements are synthesized from hydrogen nuclei in the interiors of stars. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The earliest period we have good confirmation of is Big Bang nucleosynthesis, which is some minutes if memory serves after the Big Bang."
• "When atoms are smashed in colliders using particles like electrons, we don't really call that "nucleosynthesis" via fusion?"
• "The Sun inherited its chemical composition from the interstellar medium out of which it formed: the hydrogen and helium in the Sun were produced by Big Bang nucleosynthesis."