sulfur
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sulfur
- /ˈsʌl.fə/ UK
- /ˈsʊl.fə/ Northern England
- /ˈsʌl.fəɹ/ Scotland
- /ˈsʌl.fɚ/ Canada, US
- /ˈsɐl.fə/ Australia, New Zealand
Where it comes from
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.
noun sulfurs · sulphur
-
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.
A Dungeon horrible, on all ſides round / As one great Furnace flam’d, yet from thoſe flames / No light, but rather darkneſs viſible / […] but torture without end / Still urges, and a fiery Deluge, fed / With ever-burning Sulphur unconſum’d:
Similar: brimstone, devil's gold
-
The element symbolically associated with hellfire or damnation, or in alchemy, the fiery principle present in all things.
“She shall be blasted like a riven oak! Drowned in sulphur! Torn by whirlwinds!”
Similar: brimstone, devil's gold
- A yellowish green colour, like that of sulfur. Now yellow is ascendant: ambers, golds and sulfurs radiate from the fallen leaves among the rocks and tree trunks.
- Any of various pierid butterflies of the subfamily Coliadinae, especially the sulfur-coloured species. Some butterflies – monarchs, sulfurs, red admirals – hop freely across roads and farm fields in search of the next prairie remnant.
adjective more sulfur · most sulfur · sulphur
- Of a yellowish green colour, like that of sulfur.
- Having a characteristic sulfur-like smell, reminiscent of rotten eggs. On the November morning when the sulfur burps began, Derron Borders was welcoming prospective students at the graduate school where he works in New York. […] Sulfur burps appear to be a somewhat rare side effect of semaglutide, tirzepatide, and other drugs in their class, known as GLP-1 receptor ago
verb sulfurs · sulfuring · sulfured · sulphur
- To treat with sulfur, or a sulfur compound, especially to preserve or to counter agricultural pests.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: sulphur, s, sulfuric, sulfide, dioxide, sulphide, sulphuric, sulphate, diesel, brimstone, match, zolfo, azufre, schwefel, rikki, theion
Translations
Every language
noun element
| Español | azufre |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 황 hwang, 석유황 seogyuhwang, 유황 yuhwang, 황아 hwang'a |
| 日本語 | 硫黄 iō |
| 中文 | 硫 liú, 硫黄 liúhuáng |
| हिन्दी | गन्धक gandhak |
| Kiswahili | salfa, kiberiti |
| Português | enxofre |
| Français | soufre |
| Deutsch | Schwefel |
| Italiano | zolfo |
| Ελληνικά | θείο theío |
| Română | sulf, pucioasă |
| Русский | се́ра séra |
| Tiếng Việt | lưu huỳnh |
| العربية | كِبْرِيت kibrīt |
| עברית | גָּפְרִית gofrít |
Talk about this word "sulfur." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sulfur. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. sulfur. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sulfur "sulfur." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sulfur.Cite this
@misc{sulfur_2026,
title = {sulfur},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sulfur},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
