sulfur

See also: Sulfur and sülfür

English

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

Alternative forms

• sulphur (Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, UK; nonstandard in scientific usage)

Etymology

From Middle English, borrowed from Anglo-Norman sulfre, from Latin sulfur, from sulpur itself of uncertain origin, but probably from Proto-Indo-European *swelplos, from the root *swel- (“to burn, smoulder”). Displaced Old English swefl and largely displaced brimstone.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsʌl.fə/
• 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:  

Derived terms

terms derived from sulfur (noun)

• desulfur, desulphur
• disulfur, disulphur
• flowers of sulfur, flowers of sulphur
• hepar sulphuris
• hydrodesulfurization, hydrohydrodesulphurisation, hydrohydrodesulphurization
• iron-sulfur cluster, iron-sulphur cluster
• low-sulfur, low-sulphur
• potash of sulfur, potash of sulphur
• sulf-, sulfo-, sulph-, sulpho-
• sulfa-, sulpha-
• sulfonium, sulphonium
• sulfur-32
• sulfur-33
• sulfur-34
• sulfur-35
• sulfur-36
• sulfurate, sulphurate
• sulfur acid, sulphur acid

• sulfur alcohol, sulphur alcohol
• sulfur bacterium, sulphur bacterium
• sulfur bath, sulphur bath
• sulfur-bottom, sulphur-bottom
• sulfur-bottom whale, sulphur-bottom whale
• sulfur butterfly, sulphur butterfly
• sulfur cast, sulphur cast
• sulfur cockatoo, sulphur cockatoo
• sulfur-color, sulphur-colour
• sulfur-colored, sulphur-coloured
• sulphur cone
• sulfur-crested cockatoo, sulphur-crested cockatoo
• sulfur cycle, sulphur cycle
• sulfur dibromide, sulphur dibromide
• sulfur dioxide, sulphur dioxide
• sulfured, sulphured
• sulphur-headed cauliflower

• sulfur ether, sulphur ether
• sulfuretum, sulphuretum
• sulfur fungus, sulphur fungus
• sulfur hexafluoride, sulphur hexafluoride
• sulfuric, sulphuric
• sulfuriferous, sulphuriferous
• sulfur impression, sulphur impression
• sulfuring, sulphuring
• sulfurity, sulphurity
• sulfur match, sulphur match
• sulfur monoxide, sulphur monoxide
• sulphur of ivy
• 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
• sulphur shelf, sulfur shelf
• sulfur shower, sulphur shower
• sulfur soap, sulphur soap
• sulfur spring, sulphur spring
• sulfur tree, sulphur tree
• sulfur trioxide, sulphur trioxide
• sulfur tuft, sulphur tuft
• sulphur vivum
• sulfur weed, sulphur weed
• sulfur works, sulphur works
• sulfurwort, sulphurwort
• sulfur yellow, sulphur yellow
• sulfury, sulphury
• sulfuryl, sulphuryl
• tetrasulfur, tetrasulphur
• vegetable sulfur, vegetable sulphur
• virgin sulfur, virgin sulphur
• volcanic sulfur, volcanic sulphur
• ultra-low sulfur diesel, ultra-low sulphur diesel

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 (kibrīt)

• 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 (gondhok)
• Bilba: balilang
• Breton: soufr m
• 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: sulfor ?
• 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
• Friulian: solfar ?
• Galician: xofre (gl) m, enxofre m
• Georgian: გოგირდი (gogirdi)
• German: Schwefel (de) m, Sulfur n
• Gothic: 𐍃𐍅𐌹𐌱𐌻𐍃 m (swibls)
• Greek: θείο (el) n (theío)

  Ancient: θεῖον n (theîon)

• Gujarati: ગંધક ? (gandhak)
• Hebrew: גָּפְרִית (he) f (gofrít)
• Hindi: गन्धक (hi) ? (gandhak)
• Hungarian: kén (hu)
• Icelandic: brennisteinn (is) m
• Ido: sulfo (io)
• Indonesian: sulfur (id), belerang (id)
• 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)
• Korean: 황 (ko) (hwang) (黃 (ko)), 석유황 (ko) (seogyuhwang) (石硫黃 (ko)), 유황 (yuhwang), 황아 (hwang'a) (黃芽)
• Kurdish:

  Kurmanji: ,

  Sorani:

• Kyrgyz: күкүрт (ky) (kükürt)
• Lao: ກຳມະຖັນ (kam ma than), ມາດ (māt)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: sulfur (la) ?, sulpur n
• Latvian: sērs (lv) m
• Lithuanian: siera (lt) f
• Low German: Swevel m, Svävel m
• Luxembourgish: Schwiefel m
• Macedonian: сулфур m (sulfur)
• Malay: sulfur, belerang
• Malayalam: ഗന്ധകം (ml) (gandhakaṁ)
• Maltese: kubrit m
• Manx: sulfur m
• Maori: pungatara, pūngāwhā, ohaki
• Mongolian: хүхэр (mn) (xüxer)
• Navajo: łeetsoii
• Ngaju: barirang
• Norwegian: svovel (no) m
• Occitan: solpre (oc) ?, sofre (oc) m
• Old English: swefl m
• Pashto: ګوګړ m (gogǝ́ṛ), سلفر (ps) m (salfár)
• Persian: گوگرد (fa) (gugerd)
• Polish: siarka (pl) f
• Portuguese: enxofre (pt) m
• Romanian: sulf (ro) n, sulfuri n pl
• 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

• Sicilian: sùrfuru (scn) m, suffuru m
• Sinhalese: ගෙන්දගම් ? (gendagam), සල්ෆර් ? (salfar)
• Slovak: síra (sk) f
• Slovene: žveplo (sl) n
• Spanish: azufre (es) m
• Sundanese: walirang
• Swahili: salfa, kiberiti
• Swedish: svavel (sv) n
• Tae': balirang
• Tagalog: sangyawa
• Tajik: гӯгирд (tg) (gügird)
• Taliabu: walirang
• Tamil: கந்தகம் (ta) (kantakam)
• Tatar: күкерт (tt) (kükert)
• Tetum: baliran
• Thai: กำมะถัน (th) (gam-má-tǎn), มาศ (th) (mâat)
• Tibetan: མུ་ཟི (mu zi)
• Turkish: kükürt (tr)
• Turkmen: kükürt
• Ukrainian: сі́рка f (sírka)
• Urdu: گندھک ? (gandhak)
• 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
• Yiddish: שוועבל m (shvebl)
• Zhuang: vuengzcungq

colour

• Finnish: rikinkeltainen
• French: soufre (fr)
• Ido: sulfeo
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: sulfureo
• 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
• French: soufre (fr)
• Hungarian: kénsárga
• Ido: sulfea
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: sulfureo
• 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

• Danish: svovle
• Finnish: rikittää
• Galician: enxofrar
• Ido: sulfizar, sulfagar
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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.

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Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sulfur; doublet of the inherited sofre.

Noun

sulfur m (plural sulfurs)

1. sulfide, sulphide

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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  ...

   • 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; ...

   • 1918, Det Kongelige Danske videnskabernes selskabs skrifter: Naturvidenskabelig og mathematisk afdeling

     Thi Agerjord er ikke andet end brændbare Bestanddele (Sulfur) og Alkali (sal fixum), ...

Synonyms

• svovl

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Latin

Alternative forms

• sulphur, sulpur

Etymology

From Hellenization of sulpur, of uncertain origin, but probably from Proto-Indo-European *swelplos, from the root *swel- (“to burn, smoulder”). Compare Sanskrit शुल्बारि (śulbāri, “sulfur”). Also compare Old Armenian ծծումբ (ccumb, “sulfur”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) 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

Descendants

• Albanian: squfuri, sulfur
• Aromanian: scljifur
• Catalan: sofre, sulfur
• English: sulfur
• French: soufre
• Friulian: solfar
• Galician: xofre
• Italian: zolfo, solfo

• Malay: sulfur / سولفور
• Occitan: solpre
• Portuguese: enxofre
• Romanian: sulf
• Sardinian: súlfaru, súlfuru, súrfuru
• Sicilian: suffuru, sùrfuru, surfuru, surfaru
• Spanish: azufre
• Venetian: solfer, sólfaro, solfare, solfar

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.

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Malay

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

Alternative forms

• سولفور

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)

Noun

sulfur (Jawi spelling سولفور)

1. sulfur (element)

Synonyms

• belerang / بليرڠ