sulfur

See also:Sulfurandsülfür

English

Chemical element
S
Previous:phosphorus(P)
Next:chlorine(Cl)

Spectacularnativesulfurcrystals

Sulfuras an element usually is encountered as a fine powder or irregular lumps.

Alternative forms

• sulphur(Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, UK; no longer standard in scientific usage)

Etymology

FromMiddle Englishsulphur,borrowed fromAnglo-Normansulfre,fromLatinsulfur,fromsulpuritself of uncertain origin. DisplacedOld Englishswefland largely displacedbrimstone.

Pronunciation

• (UK)IPA^(key):/ˈsʌl.fə/
• (US)enPR:sŭl'fər,IPA^(key):/ˈsʌl.fɚ/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation:sul‧fur

Noun

sulfur(usuallyuncountable,pluralsulfurs)

2. (uncountable)A chemical element (symbolS) with anatomic numberof 16.

   Synonym:(archaic, not in technical usage)brimstone

   Hypernym:chalcogen

3. (countable,uncountable)Ayellowishgreencolour, like that of sulfur.

   sulfur:

4. Any of variouspieridbutterflies of thesubfamilyColiadinae,especially the sulfur-coloured species.

   Coordinate term:yellow

Derived terms

terms derived from sulfur (noun)

• 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

Related terms

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:كبريتm(kabrīt)

  Hijazi Arabic:كَبريتm(kabrīt)

• Armenian:ծծումբ(hy)(ccumb)
• Aromanian:scljifur,teafi
• Assamese:গন্ধক(gondhok)
• Asturian:azufre(ast)m
• Azerbaijani:kükürd
• Bashkir:көкөрт(kökört)
• Basque:sufre(eu)
• Belarusian:се́раf(sjéra)
• Bengali:গন্ধক(bn)(gondhok)
• Bilba:balilang
• Breton:soufrm
• Buginese:belérang
• Bulgarian:ся́ра(bg)f(sjára)
• Burmese:ကန့်(my)(kan.)
• Catalan:sofre(ca)m
• Central Melanau:melireng
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Lưu(zh)(liú),Lưu hoàng(zh)(liúhuáng)

• Chuvash:кӳкӗрт(kük̬ĕrt)
• Cornish:sulfurm,loskvenm
• Crimean Tatar:kükürt
• Czech:síra(cs)f
• Danish:svovl(da)norc
• Dutch:zwavel(nl)m
• Erzya:палыкандал(palikandal)
• Esperanto:sulfuro(eo)
• Estonian:väävel(et)
• Faroese:svávuln
• Finnish:rikki(fi)
• French:soufre(fr)m

  Middle French:soufrem

  Old French:sulfrem

• Friulian:solfar?
• Galician:xofre(gl)m,enxofrem,xufrem,arxofrem
• Georgian:გოგირდი(gogirdi)
• German:Schwefel(de)m
• Gothic:𐍃𐍅𐌹𐌱𐌻𐍃m(swibls)
• Greek:θείο(el)n(theío)

  Ancient:θεῖονn(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,ruibhf
• Italian:zolfo(it)m
• Japanese:Lưu hoàng(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( hoàng )(ko)(hwang),석유황( thạch lưu hoàng )(ko)(seogyuhwang),유황(yuhwang),황아( hoàng mầm )(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,sulpurn
• Latvian:sērs(lv)m
• Lisu:ꓧꓪꓼ(xwɑ̱̀)
• Lithuanian:siera(lt)f
• Low German:

  German Low German:Swevelm,Svävelm

• 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:kubritm
• Manx:sulfurm
• Maori:pungatara,pūngāwhā,ohaki
• Marathi:गंधकm(gandhak)
• Middle English:sulphur
• Mongolian:хүхэр(mn)(xüxer)
• Navajo:łeetsoii
• Ngaju:barirang
• Northern Thai:ᨾᩣ᩠ᨯ
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål:svovel(no)morn

  Nynorsk:svovel(nn)morn

• Occitan:solpre(oc)?,sofre(oc)m
• Old Church Slavonic:жоупелъm(župelŭ)
• Old English:sweflm
• Ottoman Turkish:كوكورت(kükürt),كبریت(kibrit)
• Pashto:ګوګړm(gogǝ́ṛ),سلفر(ps)m(salfár)
• Persian:گوگرد(phát)(gugerd),کبریت(phát)(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:pronnasdailm,pronnasg(gd)m,pronnastanm
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic:сумпорm

  Roman:sumpor(sh)m

• Shan:ၵၢၼ်ႉ(shn)(kâ̰an)
• Sicilian:sùrfuru(scn)m,suffurum
• 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:сі́ркаf(sírka)
• Urdu:گندھکf(gandhak),کبریتm(kibrīt)
• Uyghur:گۈڭگۈرت(günggürt)
• Uzbek:олтингугурт(oltingugurt),oltingugurt(uz)
• Vietnamese:lưu huỳnh(vi)(Lưu hoàng)
• Volapük:sulfin(vo)
• Welsh:sylffwr(cy)m
• West Frisian:sweveln
• Wolio:walira
• Yakan:meylang
• Yiddish:שוועבלm(shvebl)
• Yoruba:sọ́ọ́fọ̀,imí-ọjọ́,imí-òòrùn,imí-òṣùmàrè
• Zhuang:vuengzcungq

colour

• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Lưu màu vàng

• Finnish:rikinkeltainen(fi)
• French:soufre(fr)
• Georgian:გოგირდისფერი(gogirdisperi)
• Ido:sulfeo
• Italian:sulfureo(it)
• Japanese:Lưu màu vàng,いおうしょく(iō-shoku)
• Korean:유황색(yuhwangsaek)

Adjective

sulfur(comparativemoresulfur,superlativemostsulfur)

1. Of ayellowishgreencolour, like that of sulfur.

Translations

colour

• Finnish:rikinkeltainen(fi)
• French:soufre(fr)
• Hungarian:kénsárga(hu)
• Ido:sulfea
• Italian:sulfureo(it)
• Japanese:Lưu màu vàng の(いおうしょく の, iō-shoku no)
• Korean:유황색의(yuhwangsaegui)

Verb

sulfur(third-person singular simple presentsulfurs,present participlesulfuring,simple past and past participlesulfured)

1. (transitive)Totreatwith sulfur, or a sulfur compound, especially topreserveor tocounteragriculturalpests.

Translations

treat with sulfur

• Catalan:ensofrar(ca)
• Danish:svovle
• Finnish:rikittää
• Galician:enxofrar
• Ido:sulfizar,sulfagar
• Italian:solforare
• Romanian:sulfurare(ro)f
• Spanish:azufrar(es)
• Swedish:svavla

See also

other entries of interest

• 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
• thi-,thio-
• thiol
• thiolate
• thionic
• Appendix:Colors

Further reading

• David Barthelmy (1997–2024) “Sulfur”,inWebmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “sulfur”,inMindat.org‎^[1],Hudson Institute of Mineralogy,2000–2024.

Albanian

Noun

sulfurm(pluralsulfure,definitesulfuri,definite pluralsulfuret)

1. (chemistry)sulfur

Declension

Declension ofsulfur

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	sulfur	sulfuri	sulfure	sulfuret
accusative		sulfurin
dative	sulfuri	sulfurit	sulfureve	sulfureve
ablative			sulfuresh

Further reading

• “sulfur”, inFGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe[Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎^[2](in Albanian),1980

Catalan

Etymology

BorrowedfromLatinsulfur;doublet of the inheritedsofre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):(Central,Balearic,Valencia)[sulˈfur]

Noun

sulfurm(pluralsulfurs)

1. sulfide,sulphide

Derived terms

• disulfur

Further reading

• “sulfur”inDiccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició,Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “sulfur”,inGran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana,Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana,2024
• “sulfur”inDiccionari normatiu valencià,Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “sulfur”inDiccionari català-valencià-balear,Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Cornish

Chemical element
S
Previous:fosforos(P)
Next:klorin(Cl)

Etymology

Borrowed fromEnglishsulfur.

Noun

sulfurm

1. sulfur

   Synonym:loskven

Danish

Etymology

Ultimately borrowed fromLatinsulfur;cf. Englishsulfur.

Noun

sulfur

1. (obsolete)sulphur
   • 1855,Tidsskrift for populære fremstillinger af naturvidenskaben,page379:

     ... men meget snart gik man bort fra disse bestemte Stoffer, og Sulfur og Mercurius gik nu fra at være...

     (pleaseadd an English translationof 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;...

     (pleaseadd an English translationof 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),...

     (pleaseadd an English translationof this quotation)

Synonyms

• svovl

Indonesian

Chemical element
S
Previous:fosforus(P)
Next:klorin(Cl)

Etymology

Learned borrowingfromLatinsulfur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/ˈsʊl.fʊr/
• Rhymes:-fʊr,-ʊr,-r
• Hyphenation:sul‧fur

Noun

sulfur(first-person possessivesulfurku,second-person possessivesulfurmu,third-person possessivesulfurnya)

1. (chemistry)sulfur

   Synonym:belerang

Further reading

• “sulfur”inKamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia,Jakarta:Agency for Language Development and Cultivation–Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia,2016.

Latin

Chemical element
S
Previous:phosphorus(P)
Next:chlorum(Cl)

Alternative forms

• sulphur,sulpur

Etymology

From Hellenization ofsulpur,of uncertain origin.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin)IPA^(key):/ˈsul.fur/,[ˈs̠ʊɫ̪fʊr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical)IPA^(key):/ˈsul.fur/,[ˈsulfur]

Noun

sulfurn(genitivesulfuris);third declension

1. sulfur,brimstone
2. lightning

Declension

Third-declensionnoun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	sulfur	sulfura
genitive	sulfuris	sulfurum
dative	sulfurī	sulfuribus
accusative	sulfur	sulfura
ablative	sulfure	sulfuribus
vocative	sulfur	sulfura

References

• “sulfur”,inCharlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879)A Latin Dictionary,Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “sulfur”,inCharlton T. Lewis (1891)An Elementary Latin Dictionary,New York: Harper & Brothers
• sulfurinGaffiot, Félix (1934)Dictionnaire illustré latin-français,Hachette.

Malay

Chemical element
S
Previous:fosforus(P)
Next:klorin(Cl)

Etymology

Borrowed fromEnglishsulfur,fromMiddle English,fromAnglo-Normansulfre,fromLatinsulfur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/sulfo(ɹ)/
• Rhymes:-fo(ɹ),-o(ɹ)
• Rhymes:-ur

Noun

sulfur(Jawi spellingسولفور,pluralsulfur-sulfur,informal 1st possessivesulfurku,2nd possessivesulfurmu,3rd possessivesulfurnya)

1. sulfur(element)

Synonyms

• belerang/بليرڠ