# sulfur
## English

* This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them!

### Alternative forms

* sulphur (UK and Commonwealth; 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: /ˈsʌl.fə/
* (US) enPR: sŭl'fər, IPA: /ˈsʌl.fɚ/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: sul‧fur

### Noun

sulfur (usually uncountable, plural sulfurs)
* (uncountable) A chemical element (symbol S) with an atomic number of 16.
    Synonym: (archaic, not in technical usage) brimstone
    Hypernym: chalcogen
* (countable, uncountable) A yellowish green colour, like that of sulfur.
    sulfur:
* Any of various pierid butterflies of the subfamily Coliadinae, especially the sulfur-coloured species.
    Coordinate term: yellow

#### Derived terms

* 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
* purple pitcher plant
* purple sulfur bacterium
* 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

* 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
### Adjective

sulfur (comparative more sulfur, superlative most sulfur)
* Of a yellowish green colour, like that of sulfur.

#### Translations
### Verb

sulfur (third-person singular simple present sulfurs, present participle sulfuring, simple past and past participle sulfured)
* (transitive) To treat with sulfur, or a sulfur compound, especially to preserve or to counter agricultural pests.

#### Translations
### See also

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

### Further reading

* David Barthelmy (1997–2025) “Sulfur”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
* “sulfur”, in Mindat.org‎, Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2025.

## Albanian
### Noun

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

#### Declension
### Further reading

* FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎, 1980

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sulfur; doublet of the inherited sofre.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [sulˈfur]

### Noun

sulfur m (plural sulfurs)
* 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, 2025
* “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.

## Cornish
### Etymology

Borrowed from English sulfur.

### Noun

sulfur m
* sulfur
    Synonym: loskven

## Danish
### Etymology

Ultimately borrowed from Latin sulfur; cf. English sulfur.

### Noun

sulfur
* (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
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin sulfur.

### Pronunciation

* (Standard Indonesian) IPA: /ˈsulfur/ [ˈsul.fʊr]
* Rhymes: -ulfur
* Syllabification: sul‧fur

### Noun

sulfur (plural sulfur-sulfur)
* (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 of Indonesia, 2016.

## Latin
### Alternative forms

* sulphur, sulpur

### Etymology

From Hellenization of sulpur, of uncertain origin.

### Pronunciation

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

### Noun

sulfur n (genitive sulfuris); third declension
* sulfur, brimstone
* lightning

#### Declension

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

### 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
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sulfur/
* Rhymes: -ulfur

### Noun

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