sulfur

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English soulfre, also sulphur, solfre and soufre,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman sulfre^[5][6][7][1] and Old French soufre,^[2][4][7] and partly directly borrowed from Latin sulphur,^[3][8] from Late Latin sulfur, from Latin sulpur.^[4][2][1] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from the early 12th century.^[9] The origin of the Latin word is uncertain:^[10][1] Merriam-Webster thinks it probably came from Oscan,^[8] Barnhart perhaps from a Mediterranean language,^[4] and Etymonline from a root meaning "to burn".^[2] Klein compares Tocharian B salp- (“to burn”).^[11] Its relation to Old English swefl and German Schwefel is disputed: Etymonline and the Shorter Oxford connect them,^[2][7] Ayto allows that there may be a link,^[10] and Klein thinks there is probably none.^[11] The Latin word also gave French soufre, Italian solfo and, with the Arabic article, Spanish azufre.^[10][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The yellow mineral, brimstone: about 1380, as soulfre in Chaucer's House of Fame,^[4][13] and in the 14th century according to Merriam-Webster.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English sulfur was used in medicines and in incendiary mixtures, was paired with fire, and in alchemy was one of the spirits, or one of the two elements of which metals were made.^[3][7] It replaced the native word brimstone and Old English swefl.^[2][10][1] It was the emblem of hell and hellfire, and to the Elizabethans it was also the stuff of lightning;^[2][7] in the early 17th century the word itself could mean thunder, lightning or a discharge of gunpowder.^[7] Johnson (1755) defined it simply as "brimstone".^[14] The verb, "to fumigate with burning sulfur", is recorded from 1759.^[15][8] Later senses include a yellow butterfly (mid 19th century), harsh language (late 19th century) and a pale greenish-yellow colour (early 20th century).^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – soulfre, the mineral, in Chaucer.^[4][13]
• before 1425 – the spelling sulfur.^[4]
• early 17th century – thunder, lightning (obsolete).^[7]
• 1759 – verb, to fumigate with burning sulfur.^[15]
• mid 19th century – a yellow butterfly.^[7]
• late 19th century – harsh language.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A yellow, nonmetallic chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16, found free in volcanic regions and in many minerals, and used to make sulfuric acid, to vulcanize rubber and in fungicides.^[16][8][7]
2. A yellow or orange butterfly of the family Pieridae; also called a sulfur butterfly.^[8][7]

Adjective

1. Of, relating to or containing sulfur.^[8]

Verb

1. To treat with sulfur or its fumes, as in fumigating, bleaching or preserving: Apricots are sulfured before drying.^[8][15][7]

Word family

• desulfur
• sulf-
• sulfo-
• sulph-
• unsulfured
• sulfurate

Related words

• desulfurize
• solfatara
• sulfa
• sulfate
• sulphate
• sulfide
• sulfite
• sulfonamide
• sulfone
• sulfureous
• sulphureous
• sulfuret
• sulfurize
• sulphurise
• sulfurous
• sulphurous
• brimstone
• sulphur

Usage notes

Sulfur is the American spelling, also used in chemistry, and sulphur the usual British one.^[16][7][8] Etymonline notes that the ph spelling wrongly suggests a Greek origin;^[2] Weekley says the ph was restored in English from Latin, the older English and French form being solfre.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
12. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ a b Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
16. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins