Elementymology & Elements Multidict by Peter van der Krogt
Sulphurium
Sulphur/Sulfur
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Elementymology & Elements Multidict by Peter van der Krogt
Sulphurium
Sulphur/Sulfur
Pop-ups with explanatory texts appear by moving your mouse over tables, illustrations, links etc.
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16
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Multilingual dictionary
Indo-EuropeanLanguage key — Germanic Sulphur en Sulfur en(usa) Schwefel de Schwiewel lb Zwavel nl Swael af Swevel fy Svovl da Svavel sv Svovel no Brennisteinn is Svávul (Brennisteinur) fo — Italic Soufre fr Azufre es Sofre ca oc Enxofre pt Xofre gl Zolfo it Solfar fur Sulf ro Sulfure arm — Slavic Сера [sera] ru by Сiрка [sirka] uk Siarka pl Sarka kas Síra cs sk Žveplo sl Sumpor hr bos Сумпор [sumpor] sr Сулфур [sulfur] mk Сяра [sjara] bg — Baltic Siera lt Sērs lv Sierā sud — Celtic Sylffwr cy Sulfar ga gd Grumastal, Grunnastal, Ruibh ga (lit.) Sulfur gv br Sulfor kw Soufr br² — Other Indo-European Θειο [theio] el Sulfur sq Ծծումբ [tstsumb] hy — Indo-Iranian Сондон [sondon] oss Uralic Rikki fi Väävel et Kén hu Кандур [kandur] mok Altaic Kükürt tr Кüкирт [kükirt] kk Олтингугурт [oltingugurt] uz Sulfur tg Хүхэр [hühèr] mn Other (Europe) Sufrea eu გოგირდი [gogirdi] ka East- & South-Asia 硫黄 [iou] ja 硫 [liu2 / lau4] zh (mand./cant.) 황 [hwang] ko Lưu huỳnh vi กำมะถัน [kammathan] th Sulfur, Belerang ms கந்தகம் [kantakam] ta Afro-Asiatic كبريت [kibrīt] ar Kubrit mt גופרית [gofrit] he Africa Sulfuri, Kibiriti sw Artificial Sulfuro eo New names Sulfuron (SLF) aen Rottenegg dms |
Appearance, some properties, a memory peg and a summary of discovery and etymology
History & Etymology
"οισε θέειον, γρηϋ, κακων ακος, οισε δε μοι πυρ, οφρα θεεωσω μεγαρον!..." "and Ulysses said to the dear old nurse Euryclea, The Greek physician and pharmacologist Pedanius Dioscorides (c. 40-90 AD) describes its application in medicine. Pliny the Elder (Roman) described Italian and Sicilian deposits and medicinal uses, bleaching cloth with Sulphur vapors, and manufacture of Sulphur matches and lamp-wicks. Sulphur was well known to the alchemists, free and as sulphuric acid (Oil of Vitriol, H2SO4). Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan ("Geber", c. 721-c. 815), known as the "father of Arab chemistry", suggested that metals were compounds of Sulphur and Mercury. This made Mercury and Sulphur more important substances to alchemists than other materials. Translations of his work were very popular in medieval Europe. Georgius Agricola (Georg Bauer, of Chemnitz, 1494-1555), in his De re metallica (1556), described matches ignited by friction on stone and the use of Sulphur in the manufacture of gunpowder. In 1772 Antoine Lavoisier proved that Sulphur is an elementary substance. Sulphur was known in antiquity. In Latin, it was called sulpur, and in Greek, Θειο. It was considered the embodiment of fire, and related to lightning. The Greek name, indeed, also means "divinity" and was derived from Θεος, which referred to Zeus, who is often shown with a handful of lightning bolts. In Christian mythology, it is the fuel of Hell. A "p" in Latin was used to represent φ in words borrowed from Greek in the times when it was pronounced with a puff of air, but was not yet the "f" sound. Later, when the "f" sound was used, the "p" often changed to "ph" in Latin words of Greek origin. Although "sulpur" had no Greek roots (it is derived from the Sanscrite sulvere), it was attracted into the form "sulphur" in late classical Latin. The spelling was altered in medieval times to "sulfur," which is the spelling that usually appears in Latin dictionaries. The English word is taken directly from Latin, traditionally in the form "sulphur." The American Chemical Society, at a time when spelling simplification was in vogue, decreed that "sulfur" was to be the accepted form in the United States. Although resisted by technical users, this form is now general in the United States, though sulphur is still occasionally seen. In the rest of the world, it is still sulphur (Calvert 2002). The Old Saxon sweval, Old English swefel, Old High German swebal, Gothic swibls are difficult to separate from the Latin sulphur. Maybe there was a Germanic basic from *swelhla which was combined with the Indo-Germanic root *swel (which has to do with smoke, burn slowly).
Other names
Chemistianity 1873
DTYAN
SULPHUR, in fumes,the typical Air of Hell, Call'd Brimstone, a yellow solid Metalloid, Is very brittle. If heated in Glass retort Out of contact with Air, it distils unaltered. Further reading
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© Peter van der Krogt
Sulphur occurs naturally in large quantities, either combined as in the sulphides (as pyrites) and sulphates (as gypsum), or native in volcanic regions, in vast beds mixed with gypsum and various earthy materials. It was already known in Antiquity. The popular names was brimstone, meaning literally "burning stone"; (cf. the Icelandic name).
