chloride

Etymology

It is formed from English chlorine + -ide,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} coined by Humphry Davy on the analogy of oxide.^[5] Merriam-Webster gives the source as German Chlorid.^[8] Chlorine, also named by Davy, is from Ancient Greek χλωρός (khlōrós, “greenish yellow, pale green”), after the colour of the gas.^[2][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A simple compound of chlorine with a metal or an organic radical: 1812, in Davy's Elements of Chemical Philosophy.^[2][5][8]

Semantic evolution

Soon after Davy's coinage the word was applied loosely, from 1818, to bleaching and disinfecting compounds such as chloride of lime, which are not simple chlorides;^[2][3] the Shorter Oxford describes these as bleaches containing a hypochlorite.^[3] On the Pacific coast of the United States chlorides were, from 1881, ores containing chloride of silver.^[2] Merriam-Webster also records a photographic sense, chloride paper or a print made on it.^[8]

Timeline

• 1812 – a compound of chlorine with another element or radical, coined by Davy.^[2][5][8]
• 1818 – bleaching and disinfecting compounds, as chloride of lime.^[2]
• 1881 – in the western United States, ores containing chloride of silver.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A compound of chlorine with another element or radical, especially a salt or ester of hydrochloric acid: Common salt is sodium chloride.^[8][9][3]
2. The negatively charged ion Cl⁻, made of one chlorine atom.^[8][9]
3. Loosely, a bleach or disinfectant containing a hypochlorite.^[3][2]
4. Chloride paper, a photographic paper, or a print made on it.^[8]

Word family

• chloridic
• bichloride
• chloridize
• dichloride
• hexachloride
• hydrochloride
• monochloride
• oxychloride

Related words

• chlorine
• oxide
• hydrochloric

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins