sulfide

Etymology

It is formed from English sulfur + -ide, on the model of oxide, as a name for a compound of sulfur with another element.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Merriam-Webster Unabridged treats it as an International Scientific Vocabulary word made of sulf- and -ide, probably first formed as German sulfid,^[6] while Etymonline takes it as a borrowing from French.^[7] Sulfur itself is from Late Latin sulfur, from Latin sulphur.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A compound of sulfur with another element: 1836, in the OED, which records it under the British spelling sulphide;^[2][6] Etymonline dates the word to 1831,^[7] and Dictionary.com to 1830–40.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word was coined in 19th-century chemistry, and the phrase hydrogen sulphide, for the gas H₂S, is recorded from 1849.^[2] From 1904 it was also used as a verb, to convert something into a sulfide or impregnate it with one.^[2][3] In the 20th century sulphide also became the name of a small cameo or figure set in clear glass, where it shines like silver.^[3][6]

Timeline

• 1836 – a compound of sulfur with another element.^[2][6]
• 1849 – hydrogen sulphide, the gas H₂S.^[2]
• 1893 – attributive, of the treatment of metallic sulfides in manufacture.^[2]
• 1904 – verb, to convert into a sulfide.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A compound of sulfur with a more electropositive element or group, especially with a metal: Many metal ores occur as sulfides.^[8][6][1]
2. Any of a class of organic compounds in which a sulfur atom is bonded to two carbon atoms.^[9][1]
3. A small cameo or relief figure enclosed in clear glass, where it glitters like silver.^[6][3]

Verb

1. To treat with a sulfide, or to convert into one.^[6][3][2]

Word family

• subsulfide
• trisulfide

Related words

• sulfur
• sulfate
• sulfite
• oxide

Usage notes

Sulphide is the standard British spelling, and sulfide the American one, also used by chemists generally.^[7][3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster