English Explanatory Dictionary

sulfur

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A chemical element with atomic number 16, having a bright yellow color and characteristic smell, used commercially in a variety of products such as insecticides, black powder, and matchsticks.
  2. The element symbolically associated with hellfire or damnation, or in alchemy, the fiery principle present in all things.
  3. A yellowish green colour, like that of sulfur.
  4. Any of various pierid butterflies of the subfamily Coliadinae, especially the sulfur-coloured species.
adj
  1. Of a yellowish green colour, like that of sulfur.
  2. Having a characteristic sulfur-like smell, reminiscent of rotten eggs.
verb
  1. To treat with sulfur, or a sulfur compound, especially to preserve or to counter agricultural pests.

Pronunciation

/ˈsʌl.fə/ /ˈsʊl.fə/ /ˈsʌl.fəɹ/ sŭl'fər /ˈsʌl.fɚ/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-sulfur.wav En-us-sulfur.ogg

Word forms

sulfur sulfurs sulphur more sulfur most sulfur sulfuring sulfured

Etymology

Etymology tree Latin sulpur Latin sulfur Latin sulphur Anglo-Norman sulfrebor. Middle English sulphur English sulfur From Middle English sulphur, borrowed from Anglo-Norman sulfre, from Latin sulfur, from sulpur itself of uncertain origin. Displaced Old English swefl and largely displaced brimstone.

Synonyms

brimstone

Related words

desulfurize desulphurise desulphurize disulfoton solfatara sulfa sulpha sulfane sulphane sulfatase sulphatase sulfate sulphate sulfated sulphated sulfide sulphide sulfite sulphite sulfonal sulphonal sulfonamide sulphonamide sulfone sulphone sulphureo- sulfureous sulphureous sulfuret sulphuret sulfurize sulphurise sulphurize sulfurous sulphurous sulphur vivum sulpiride mul:S acid rain alunite barite cinnabar cysteine dithionous acid Epsom salts galena gunpowder gypsum heparin Lawesson's reagent mercaptan methionine oleum polythionic acid pyrite sodium dithionate sodium dithionite sphalerite stibnite thiol

Derived words

biosulfur catenapolysulfur chlorsulfuron cloudless sulfur desulfur desulphur disulfur disulphur disuprazole flowers of sulfur flowers of sulphur green non-sulfur bacteria green sulfur bacteria hepar sulphuris hydrodesulfurization hydrohydrodesulphurisation hydrohydrodesulphurization iron-sulfur cluster iron-sulphur cluster iron-sulfur protein lime sulfur liver of sulfur low-sulfur low-sulphur monosulfur multisulfur nonsulfur octasulfur organosulfur polysulfur potash of sulfur potash of sulphur prill sulfur purple pitcher plant purple sulfur bacterium radiosulfur sufentanil sulazepam sulfa- sulpha- sulfonium sulphonium sulf- sulfo- sulph- sulpho- sulfur-32 sulfur-33 sulfur-34 sulfur-35 sulfur-36 sulfur acid sulphur acid sulfur alcohol sulphur alcohol sulfurane sulfurase sulfurate sulphurate sulfur bacterium

Translations

Afrikaans: swawel Afrikaans: swael Albanian: sulfur Southern Altai: кӱӱрт Arabic: كِبْرِيت Arabic: كبريت Arabic: كَبريت Armenian: ծծումբ Aromanian: scljifur Aromanian: teafi Assamese: গন্ধক Asturian: azufre Azerbaijani: kükürd Bashkir: көкөрт Basque: sufre Belarusian: се́ра Bengali: গন্ধক Bilba: balilang Breton: soufr Buginese: belérang Bulgarian: ся́ра Burmese: ကန့် Catalan: sofre Chinese Mandarin: 硫 Chinese Mandarin: 硫黄 Choctaw: hituk lakna Chuvash: кӳкӗрт Cornish: sulfur Cornish: loskven Crimean Tatar: kükürt Czech: síra Danish: svovl Dutch: zwavel Erzya: палыкандал Esperanto: sulfuro Estonian: väävel Faroese: svávul Finnish: rikki French: soufre Middle French: soufre Old French: sulfre West-Frisian: swevel Friulian: solfar Galician: xofre Galician: enxofre Galician: xufre Galician: arxofre Georgian: გოგირდი German: Schwefel
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