vitriol

See also: Vitriol

English

Etymology

From Old French vitriol, from Latin vitriolum (“sulphuric acid”), from vitrum (“glass”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈvɪ.tɹi.əl/

Noun

vitriol (countable and uncountable, plural vitriols)

1. (dated) Sulphuric acid and various metal sulphates.
2. (by extension) Bitterly abusive language.
   • 2012 November 2, Ken Belson, "[1]," New York Times (retrieved 2 November 2012):

     For days, online forums sparked with outrage against politicians and race organizers, a tone that turned to vitriol against runners, even from some shaming other runners for being selfish.

Derived terms

• blue vitriol
• copper vitriol
• green vitriol
• hurl vitriol
• iron vitriol
• oil of vitriol
• spirit of vitriol
• vitriolage
• vitriolate
• vitriol attack
• vitriolic
• vitriolize
• white vitriol

 

Descendants

• → Irish: vitrial

Translations

sulfuric acid — see sulfuric acid

various metal sulphates

• Arabic: زَاج‎ m (zāj)
• Azerbaijani: zağ (az)
• Dutch: vitriool (nl) n
• Finnish: vihtrilli (fi)
• French: vitriol (fr) m
• Georgian: აჯასპი (aǯasṗi)
• German: Vitriol (de) n
• Irish: vitrial m
• Persian: زاج‎ (fa) (zâj)
• Portuguese: vitríolo m

• Russian: купоро́с (ru) m (kuporós)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: га̏лица f

  Roman: gȁlica (sh) f

• Spanish: vitriolo (es) m
• Swedish: vitriol (sv)
• Tajik: зок (zok)
• Turkish:

  Ottoman Turkish: زاج‎ (zaç)

  Modern Turkish: zaç (tr)

• Westrobothnian: väkktarell m

Verb

vitriol (third-person singular simple present vitriols, present participle vitrioling or vitriolling, simple past and past participle vitrioled or vitriolled)

1. (transitive) To subject to bitter verbal abuse.
2. (transitive, metallurgy) To dip in dilute sulphuric acid; to pickle.
3. (transitive, colloquial) To vitriolize.

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vi.tʁi.jɔl/

• Audio (Paris)

  (file)

Noun

vitriol m (plural vitriols)

1. vitriol (all senses)