sulfur

See also: Sulfur and sülfür

English

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

Spectacular native sulfur crystals

Sulfur as 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

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

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

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sul‧fur

Noun

sulfur (usually uncountable, plural sulfurs)

2. (uncountable) A chemical element (symbol S) with an atomic number of 16.

   Synonym: (archaic, not in technical usage) brimstone

   Hypernym: chalcogen

3. (countable, uncountable) A yellowish green colour, like that of sulfur.

   sulfur:  

4. Any of various pierid butterflies of the subfamily Coliadinae, 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
• sulf-, sulfo-, sulph-, sulpho-
• sulfa-, sulpha-
• sulfonium, sulphonium
• 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-color, sulphur-colour
• sulfur-colored, sulphur-coloured
• 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
• sulfury, sulphury
• sulfur yellow, sulphur yellow
• sulfuryl, sulphuryl
• 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 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 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 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
• Spanish: azufre (es) m
• Sundanese: ᮝᮜᮤᮛᮀ (walirang)
• Swahili: salfa, kiberiti
• Swedish: svavel (sv) n
• Tae': balirang
• Tagalog: sangyawa
• 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

colour

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 硫黄色

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

Adjective

sulfur (comparative more sulfur, superlative most sulfur)

1. Of a yellowish green colour, like that of sulfur.

Translations

colour

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

Verb

sulfur (third-person singular simple present sulfurs, present participle sulfuring, simple past and past participle sulfured)

1. (transitive) To treat with sulfur, or a sulfur compound, especially to preserve or to counter agricultural pests.

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”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “sulfur”, in Mindat.org‎^[1], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2024.

Albanian

Noun

sulfur m (plural sulfure, definite sulfuri, definite plural sulfuret)

1. (chemistry) sulfur

Declension

Declension of sulfur

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

Further reading

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

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sulfur; doublet of the inherited sofre.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

sulfur m (plural sulfurs)

1. sulfide, sulphide

Derived terms

• disulfur

Further reading

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

Danish

Etymology

Ultimately borrowed from Latin sulfur; cf. English sulfur.

Noun

sulfur

1. (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

• svovl

Indonesian

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

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin sulfur.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

sulfur (first-person possessive sulfurku, second-person possessive sulfurmu, third-person possessive sulfurnya)

1. (chemistry) sulfur

   Synonym: belerang

Further reading

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

Latin

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

Alternative forms

• sulphur, sulpur

Etymology

From Hellenization of sulpur, of uncertain origin. Also compare Old Armenian ծծումբ (ccumb, “sulfur”).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

sulfur n (genitive sulfuris); third declension

1. sulfur, brimstone
2. lightning

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	sulfur	sulfura
Genitive	sulfuris	sulfurum
Dative	sulfurī	sulfuribus
Accusative	sulfur	sulfura
Ablative	sulfure	sulfuribus
Vocative	sulfur	sulfura

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

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

Etymology

Borrowed from English sulfur, from Middle English, from Anglo-Norman sulfre, from Latin sulfur.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

sulfur (Jawi spelling سولفور, plural sulfur-sulfur, informal 1st possessive sulfurku, 2nd possessive sulfurmu, 3rd possessive sulfurnya)

1. sulfur (element)

Synonyms

• belerang / بليرڠ