sulphur

Meaning

1. (declension-3, neuter) sulfur, brimstone
2. (declension-3, neuter) lightning

Concepts

sulphur

brimstone

sulfur

sulfur

sulphur

Synonyms

sulpur

sulfur

sulfur

sulfur-

sulphur-

Translations

Schwefel

soufre

zolfo

azufre

enxofre

zwavel

sofre

كبريت

θείο

kükürt

θείον

kukurd

solfer

sulfer

Pronounced as (IPA)

[ˈsʊɫ.pʰʊr]

Etymology

From a Hellenisation of earlier sulpur, from the root *selp- (“fat, oil”). Cognate with English salve, Sanskrit सर्पिस् (sarpís, “cleaned melted butter”), सृप्र (sṛprá, “greasy, smooth”), Tocharian B ṣalype (“ointment”), and perhaps ἔλπος (élpos, “?olive oil, fat”) or Ancient Greek ὄλπη (ólpē, “flask for oil”).
According to De Vaan citing Szemerényi, perhaps from an s-stem Proto-Indo-European *sélpos. However, De Vaan finds both the -él- > -ól- and -os > -ur changes to be irregular (for -ol- > -ul- see sulcus), adding that perhaps it comes from Proto-Italic *solpor, from an r/n-stem Proto-Indo-European *sólpr̥ instead. The Latin has also been suggested to stem from a non-Indo-European Wanderwort; see Proto-Germanic *sweblaz (“sulfur”) for more.