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in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
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Spectacular native sulfur crystals
Sulfur as an element usually is encountered as a fine powder or irregular lumps.
sulphur ( Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, UK; no longer standard in scientific usage )
Etymology
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 .
Pronunciation
Noun
sulfur (usually uncountable , plural sulfurs )
( uncountable ) A chemical element (symbol S) with an atomic number of 16.
Synonym: ( archaic, not in technical usage ) brimstone
Hypernym: chalcogen
( countable , uncountable ) A yellowish green colour, like that of sulfur.
sulfur:
Any of various pierid butterflies of the subfamily Coliadinae , especially the sulfur-coloured species.
Coordinate term: yellow
Derived terms
biosulfur catenapolysulfur 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 low-sulfur , low-sulphur monosulfur multisulfur nonsulfur octasulfur organosulfur polysulfur potash of sulfur , potash of sulphur prill sulfur 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 , sulphur bacterium sulfur bath , sulphur bath sulfur-bottom , sulphur-bottom sulfur-bottom whale , sulphur-bottom whale sulfur buckwheat sulfur butterfly , sulphur butterfly sulfur candle sulfur cast , sulphur cast sulfur cockatoo , sulphur cockatoo sulfur-colored , sulphur-coloured sulfur-color , sulphur-colour sulfur cone sulfur-crested cockatoo , sulphur-crested cockatoo sulfur cycle , sulphur cycle sulfur dibromide , sulphur dibromide sulfur dichloride sulfur dioxide , sulphur dioxide sulfured , sulphured sulfur ether , sulphur ether sulfuretum , sulphuretum sulfur fungus , sulphur fungus sulfur hexafluoride , sulphur hexafluoride sulfurian sulfuric , sulphuric sulfuriferous , sulphuriferous sulfur impression , sulphur impression sulfuring , sulphuring sulfur-iodine cycle sulfurise sulfurity , sulphurity sulfurization sulfurless sulfurlike sulfur match , sulphur match sulfur monoxide , sulphur monoxide sulfur mustard sulfur nitride sulfur ore , sulphur ore sulfur oxide , sulphur oxide sulfur parakeet , sulphur parakeet sulfur pearl , sulphur pearl sulfur print , sulphur print sulfur pyrites , sulphur pyrites sulfur rain , sulphur rain sulfur salt , sulphur salt sulfur shower , sulphur shower sulfur soap , sulphur soap sulfur spring , sulphur spring sulfurtransferase sulfur tree , sulphur tree sulfur trioxide , sulphur trioxide sulfur tuft , sulphur tuft sulfur weed , sulphur weed sulfur works , sulphur works sulfurwort , sulphurwort sulfur yellow , sulphur yellow sulfuryl , sulphuryl sulfury , sulphury sulnidazole sulphur cone sulphur-headed cauliflower sulphur of ivy sulphur shelf , sulfur shelf sulphur vivum sulvanite tetrasulfur , tetrasulphur ultra-low sulfur diesel, ultra-low sulphur diesel unsulfured vegetable sulfur , vegetable sulphur virgin sulfur , virgin sulphur volcanic sulfur , volcanic sulphur
terms related to sulfur (noun)
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
Translations
element
Afrikaans: swawel (af) , swael (af)
Albanian: sulfur (sq) m
Arabic: كِبْرِيت (ar) m ( kibrīt )
Egyptian Arabic: كبريت m ( kabrīt )
Hijazi Arabic: كَبريت m ( kabrīt )
Armenian: ծծումբ (hy) ( ccumb )
Aromanian: scljifur , teafi
Assamese: গন্ধক ( gondhok )
Asturian: azufre (ast) m
Azerbaijani: kükürd
Bashkir: көкөрт ( kökört )
Basque: sufre (eu)
Belarusian: се́ра f ( sjéra )
Bengali: গন্ধক (bn) ( gondhok )
Bilba: balilang
Breton: soufr m
Buginese: belérang
Bulgarian: ся́ра (bg) f ( sjára )
Burmese: ကန့် (my) ( kan. )
Catalan: sofre (ca) m
Central Melanau: melireng
Chinese:
Mandarin: 硫 (zh) ( liú ) , 硫黄 (zh) ( liúhuáng )
Chuvash: кӳкӗрт ( kük̬ĕrt )
Cornish: sulfur m , loskven m
Crimean Tatar: kükürt
Czech: síra (cs) f
Danish: svovl (da) n or c
Dutch: zwavel (nl) m
Erzya: палыкандал ( palikandal )
Esperanto: sulfuro (eo)
Estonian: väävel (et)
Faroese: svávul n
Finnish: rikki (fi)
French: soufre (fr) m
Middle French: soufre m
Old French: sulfre m
Friulian: solfar ?
Galician: xofre (gl) m , enxofre m , xufre m , arxofre m
Georgian: გოგირდი ( gogirdi )
German: Schwefel (de) m
Gothic: 𐍃𐍅𐌹𐌱𐌻𐍃 m ( swibls )
Greek: θείο (el) n ( theío )
Ancient: θεῖον n ( theîon )
Guaraní: itasy
Gujarati: ગંધક ? ( gandhak )
Hebrew: גָּפְרִית (he) f ( gofrít )
Hindi: गन्धक (hi) ? ( gandhak )
Hungarian: kén (hu)
Icelandic: brennisteinn (is) m
Ido: sulfo (io)
Indonesian: belerang (id) , sulfur (id)
Ingrian: rikki
Interlingua: sulfure
Irish: sulfar (ga) m , ruibh f
Italian: zolfo (it) m
Japanese: 硫黄 (ja) ( いおう, iō )
Javanese: ꦮ꧀ꦭꦶꦫꦁ (jv) ( wlirang )
Kashubian: sarka
Kazakh: күкірт (kk) ( kükırt )
Khmer: ស្ពាន់ធ័រ (km) ( spŏən thɔə )
Khün: ᨣ᩶ᩤ᩠ᨶ , ᨾᩣ᩠ᨯ
Korean: 황(黃) (ko) ( hwang ) , 석유황(石硫黃) (ko) ( seogyuhwang ) , 유황 ( yuhwang ) , 황아(黃芽) ( hwang'a )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: گۆگِرد ( gogird )
Northern Kurdish: kewkurd , kirkût (ku)
Kyrgyz: күкүрт (ky) ( kükürt )
Lao: ກຳມະຖັນ ( kam ma than ) , ມາດ ( māt )
Latin: sulfur (la) n , sulphur (la) n , sulpur n
Latvian: sērs (lv) m
Lisu: ꓧꓪꓼ ( xwɑ̱̀ )
Lithuanian: siera (lt) f
Low German:
German Low German: Swevel m , Svävel m
Lü: ᦙᦱᧆ ( maad )
Luxembourgish: Schwiefel (lb) m
Macedonian: сулфур (mk) m ( sulfur )
Malagasy: solifara (mg)
Malay: sulfur , belerang
Malayalam: ഗന്ധകം (ml) ( gandhakaṁ ) , സൾഫർ ( saḷphaṟ )
Maltese: kubrit m
Manx: sulfur m
Maori: pungatara , pūngāwhā , ohaki
Marathi: गंधक m ( gandhak )
Middle English: sulphur
Mongolian: хүхэр (mn) ( xüxer )
Navajo: łeetsoii
Ngaju: barirang
Northern Thai: ᨾᩣ᩠ᨯ
Norwegian:
Bokmål: svovel (no) m or n
Nynorsk: svovel (nn) m or n
Occitan: solpre (oc) ? , sofre (oc) m
Old Church Slavonic: жоупелъ m ( župelŭ )
Old English: swefl m
Ottoman Turkish: كوكورت ( kükürt ) , كبریت ( kibrit )
Pashto: ګوګړ m ( gogǝ́ṛ ) , سلفر (ps) m ( salfár )
Persian: گوگرد (fa) ( gugerd ) , کبریت (fa) ( kebrit )
Polish: siarka (pl) f
Portuguese: enxofre (pt) m
Punjabi: ਗੰਧਕ (pa) f ( gandhak )
Romanian: sulf (ro) n , pucioasă (ro) f
Russian: се́ра (ru) f ( séra )
Sanskrit: गन्धक (sa) n ( gandhaka )
Sardinian: súlfaru ? , súlfuru ? , súrfuru ?
Scottish Gaelic: pronnasdail m , pronnasg (gd) m , pronnastan m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: сумпор m
Roman: sumpor (sh) m
Shan: ၵၢၼ်ႉ (shn) ( kâ̰an )
Sicilian: sùrfuru (scn) m , suffuru m
Sinhalese: ගෙන්දගම් ? ( gendagam ) , සල්ෆර් ? ( salfar )
Slovak: síra (sk) f
Slovene: žveplo (sl) n
Southern Altai: кӱӱрт ( küürt )
Spanish: azufre (es) m
Sundanese: ᮝᮜᮤᮛᮀ ( walirang )
Swahili: salfa , kiberiti
Swedish: svavel (sv) n
Tae': balirang
Tagalog: sangyawa , asupre
Tai Dam: ꪬꪸꪣꪎꪲꪉ
Tajik: гӯгирд (tg) ( gügird )
Taliabu: walirang
Tamil: கந்தகம் (ta) ( kantakam )
Tatar: күкерт (tt) ( kükert )
Tausug: maylang
Ternate: walirang
Tetum: baliran
Thai: กำมะถัน (th) ( gam-má-tǎn ) , มาศ (th) ( mâat ) , ซัลเฟอร์ (th) ( sal-fə̂ə )
Tibetan: མུ་ཟི ( mu zi )
Turkish: kükürt (tr)
Turkmen: kükürt
Ukrainian: сі́рка f ( sírka )
Urdu: گندھک f ( gandhak ) , کبریت m ( kibrīt )
Uyghur: گۈڭگۈرت ( günggürt )
Uzbek: олтингугурт ( oltingugurt ) , oltingugurt (uz)
Vietnamese: lưu huỳnh (vi) (硫黃 )
Volapük: sulfin (vo)
Welsh: sylffwr (cy) m
West Frisian: swevel n
Wolio: walira
Yakan: meylang
Yiddish: שוועבל m ( shvebl )
Yoruba: sọ́ọ́fọ̀ , imí-ọjọ́ , imí-òòrùn , imí-òṣùmàrè
Zhuang: vuengzcungq
Adjective
sulfur (comparative more sulfur , superlative most sulfur )
Of a yellowish green colour, like that of sulfur.
Translations
Verb
sulfur (third-person singular simple present sulfurs , present participle sulfuring , simple past and past participle sulfured )
( transitive ) To treat with sulfur, or a sulfur compound, especially to preserve or to counter agricultural pests .
Translations
See also
other entries of interest
Further reading
David Barthelmy (1997–2024 ) “Sulfur ”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database .
“sulfur ”, in Mindat.org , Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2024 .
Albanian
Noun
sulfur m (plural sulfure , definite sulfuri , definite plural sulfuret )
( chemistry ) sulfur
Declension
Further reading
“sulfur”, in FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language ] (in Albanian), 1980
Catalan
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin sulfur ; doublet of the inherited sofre .
Pronunciation
Noun
sulfur m (plural sulfurs )
sulfide , sulphide
Derived terms
Further reading
Cornish
Etymology
Borrowed from English sulfur .
Noun
sulfur m
sulfur
Synonym: loskven
Danish
Etymology
Ultimately borrowed from Latin sulfur ; cf. English sulfur .
Noun
sulfur
( obsolete ) sulphur
1855 , Tidsskrift for populære fremstillinger af naturvidenskaben , page 379 :... men meget snart gik man bort fra disse bestemte Stoffer, og Sulfur og Mercurius gik nu fra at være ... (please add an English translation of this quotation)
1896 , Alfred Georg Ludvig Lehmann, Overtro og trolddom fra de æeldste tider til vore dage :... forskellige Stoffer adskilte sig kun fra hinanden derved, at de indeholdt forskellige Mængder af Sulfur og Merkurius; ... (please add an English translation of this quotation)
1918 , Det Kongelige Danske videnskabernes selskabs skrifter: Naturvidenskabelig og mathematisk afdeling :Thi Agerjord er ikke andet end brændbare Bestanddele (Sulfur) og Alkali (sal fixum), ... (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Synonyms
Indonesian
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin sulfur .
Pronunciation
Noun
sulfur
( chemistry ) sulfur
Synonym: belerang
Further reading
Latin
Etymology
From Hellenization of sulpur , of uncertain origin.
Pronunciation
Noun
sulfur n (genitive sulfuris ) ; third declension
sulfur , brimstone
lightning
Declension
Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).
References
“sulfur ”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879 ) A Latin Dictionary , Oxford: Clarendon Press
“sulfur ”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891 ) An Elementary Latin Dictionary , New York: Harper & Brothers
sulfur in Gaffiot, Félix (1934 ) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français , Hachette.
Malay
Etymology
Borrowed from English sulfur , from Middle English , from Anglo-Norman sulfre , from Latin sulfur .
Pronunciation
Noun
sulfur (Jawi spelling سولفور , plural sulfur -sulfur , informal 1st possessive sulfurku , 2nd possessive sulfurmu , 3rd possessive sulfurnya )
sulfur ( element )
Synonyms