Etymologically
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sulfate

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈsʌlfeɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French sulfate,[2][3][4] which Etymonline and Barnhart give as sulphate and Etymonline dates to 1787,[5][6] from New Latin sulphātum,[7] in the phrase sulphatum acidum,[5][6] formed from Latin sulpur (see sulfur),[5][6][4] and the chemical suffix -ate (see -ate).[2][5] Merriam-Webster takes the English spelling sulphate as an alteration of the French word under the influence of sulphur.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A salt of sulfuric acid: 1790, as sulphat, in Kerr's translation of Lavoisier.[5][6][8] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1788.[2]

Semantic evolution

The word belongs to the chemical naming introduced with Lavoisier's new chemistry, which reached English through translations of his work.[5] Barnhart records the spelling sulphate in English from 1794 and sulfate from 1809.[6] Sulphate remains the standard British spelling,[5][9] while Collins calls sulfate the preferred American one.[9] The noun came to be used on its own for sodium sulfate (1879) and in compounds such as sulphate process, a way of making strong brown paper from wood pulp (1902).[8][3] A verb, to become or make sulfated, followed in 1888.[8][2] In drug slang sulphate is amphetamine sulphate.[9][10]

Timeline

  • 1790 – a salt of sulfuric acid, spelled sulphat.[5][6][8] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1788.[2]
  • 1794 – the spelling sulphate.[6]
  • 1809 – the spelling sulfate.[6]
  • 1879 – sodium sulfate.[8]
  • 1888 – verb, to treat with sulfuric acid or a sulfate; to become sulfated.[2][8]
  • 1902 – sulphate process in paper-making, and sulphate ion.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A salt or ester of sulfuric acid: copper sulfate.[2][9][3]
  2. (slang) amphetamine sulfate as a street drug.[9][10]

Verb

  1. To treat or combine with sulfuric acid or a sulfate, or to convert into a sulfate.[2][9][3]
  2. To become coated with sulfates, as the plates of a lead-acid battery.[3][9]

Word family

  • sulfation
  • hydrosulfate
  • sulfatase
  • bisulfate
  • disulfate
  • persulfate

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  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. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  10. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com