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sulfate

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Etymology and origin of the English word sulfate

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1790 Kerr's translation of Lavoisier More words from the 18th century
Borrowed from
French sulfate
Ultimate origin
Latin sulpur

Pronunciation

  • /ˈsʌlfeɪt/[1]

Forms

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 sulphur (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

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Sulfate.” Etymologically, 6 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/sulfate. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·