▪ I. sulphur, n.
(ˈsʌlfə(r))
Forms: 4–7 sulphre, 5–7 sulphure, 5, 7, 9 (now U.S.) sulfur, 6–7 sulpher, (4 sou(l)fre, soulphre, 5 solfre, 6 sulfure, sulfre, sulphyr, 7 sulfer), 5– sulphur.
[a. AF. sulf(e)re (12th c.), OF. (mod.F.) soufre (from 13th c.) = Pr. solfre solpre, sulpre, It. solfo, zolfo, OSp. {cced}ufre, Pg. xofre (also, with Arabic article prefixed, OSp. a{cced}ufre, Sp. azufre, Pg. enxofre):—L. sulfur(em), sulphur(em), whence also Du. sulfer, solfer.]
1. a. A greenish-yellow non-metallic substance, found abundantly in volcanic regions, and occurring free in nature as a brittle crystalline solid, and widely distributed in combination with metals and other substances. In popular and commercial language it is otherwise known as brimstone. (See also sulphur vivum.) In Chemistry, one of the non-metallic elements: atomic weight 32, symbol S.
Sulphur exists in two distinct crystalline forms and in an amorphous form. It is manufactured largely from native sulphides of copper and iron; when refined and cast into moulds, it is the roll sulphur or stick sulphur of commerce. It is highly inflammable, and is used in the manufacture of matches, gunpowder, and sulphuric acid, for vulcanizing rubber, in bleaching, and as a disinfectant.
In popular belief sulphur has been associated with the fires of hell, with devils, and with thunder and lightning.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 954 Þe rayn..Of felle flaunkes of fyr & flakes of soufre. Ibid. 1036 Alum & alkaran..Soufre sour, & saundyuer. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 264 Eft with water..Sche made a cercle aboute him thries, And eft with fyr of sulphre twyes. c 1420 ? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 314 Of fyre and sulphure all hys [sc. Pluto's] odour wase. 1549 Thomas Hist. Italie 113 b, The veyne of sulfure in the earth, receiuyng sometymes through the extreme heate of the sonne, a certaine kynde of fyre, kendleth. 1595 Locrine iii. vi. 51 Through burning sulphur of the Limbo-lake. 1604 Shakes. Oth. iii. iii. 329 The Mines of Sulphure. 1638–56 Cowley Davideis iii. Note xxx, Thunder hath sulphur in it. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 69 A fiery Deluge, fed With ever⁓burning Sulphur unconsum'd. 1764 Grainger Sugar Cane ii. 241 Sulphur's suffocating steam. 1790 Kerr tr. Lavoisier's Elem. Chem. 221 They do not sufficiently disoxygenate the decomposed part of the acid to reconvert it into sulphur. 1846 G. Bird Urin. Deposits (ed. 2) 27 The sulphur existing in the blood. 1871 Tennyson Last Tourn. 614 Near me stood, In fuming sulphur blue and green, a fiend. 1881 Med. Temp. Jrnl. XLVIII. 194 Sulphur combines with carbon, in two proportions of the former with one of the latter. 1891 F. Taylor Man. Pract. Med. (ed. 2) 72 Good results have been got by burning sulphur in the rooms inhabited by the child. |
b. In a refined state,
e.g. as flowers of sulphur, it is used medicinally as a laxative, a resolvent, and a sudorific, and as an ingredient of various ointments,
esp. for skin diseases.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 216 Anointing of oile of camomille & solfre grounden togidere. a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 46 Ane enoyntment made of sope and sulphure. 1578 Lyte Dodoens iii. xx[x]iv. 365 The iuyce of the roote [of Thapsia]..mingled with sulfre, dissolueth al swellinges being layd vpon. 1789 W. Buchan Dom. Med. (1790) 641 What stimulants are more active than salt and sulphur? 1897 H. Aldersmith Ringworm (ed. 4) 185 Sulphur in some form is one of the best applications for ringworm. 1908 W. J. Courthope in Blackw. Mag. Sept. 298 The blood impure Sulphur's sharp grains alone have strength to cure. |
c. With qualification indicating colour, form, state, origin, etc.: see the qualifying words, and
quots. below.
virgin sulphur, native sulphur in the form of transparent amber-coloured crystals.
volcanic sulphur, native sulphur in opaque, lemon-yellow, crystalline masses.
sulphur of ivy, corruption of
sulphur vivum.
| 1559, 1590 [see quick a. 14]. 1668 Charleton Onomast. 235 Sulphur Virgineum..Virgin Sulphur. 1725 Fam. Dict. s.v., There are two sorts, one of which is call'd Live Sulphur, and the other Common or Yellow Sulphur. Live or Quick Sulphur is a grey, fat, clayey, inflammable Matter. 1728 Chambers Cycl., Sulphur..is particularly call'd Fossil, or Mineral Sulphur, to distinguish it from the Sulphur of Metals, or of the Philosophers. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v., The green native sulphur. Ibid., The red native sulphur. 1867 Chambers' Encycl. IX. 199/1 Under the names of Black Sulphur, or Sulphur vivum (commonly inquired for at the chemist's under the title of Sulphur of Ivy). 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 62/1 Such pyrites sulphur is usually contaminated with arsenic. Ibid. 62/2 Commercial sulphur forms yellow crystals. |
d. † acid of sulphur, sulphuric acid;
† balm,
† magistery of sulphur, milk of sulphur;
† oil of sulphur, ? sulphuric acid;
† salt of sulphur, ? potassium sulphate ‘impregnated’ with sulphuric oxide;
† spirit of sulphur, sulphuric oxide.
See also
alcohol 2,
balsam n. 2 b,
flower n. 2 c,
liver n.1 4,
milk n. 4,
ruby n. 6 b.
| 1696 Phillips (ed. 5) s.v., Flower of Sulphur, the purest of the Sulphur, that sticks to the Head of the Alembic, in sublimation by Fire. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Salt of Sulphur, a Preparation in Chymistry, improperly so called, since it is only a Sal Polychrestum impregnated with Spirit of Sulphur, and then reduced to an Acid Salt by Evaporation of all the Moisture. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Spirit of Sulphur..is commonly call'd Oil of Sulphur per Campanam, from the Vessel's Shape, being like a Glass-bell, in which it is usually drawn. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Magistery, or Balm..of Sulphur is..called Milk of Sulphur from its Whiteness. 1744 Phil. Trans. XLIII. 1 The volatile Acid of Sulphur. |
† e. pl. Masses or deposits of native sulphur.
| 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 684 The Founts where living Sulphurs boil. 1771 Ann. Reg. ii. 78/1 The inside of the crater, which is incrusted with salts and sulphurs like that of Vesuvius. |
f. The colour of sulphur, a greenish-yellow.
| 1924 R. Campbell Flaming Terrapin ii. 32 Panthers' eyes..Flashed their pale sulphur on the sunless air. 1963 Listener 10 Jan. 84/2, I don't like the colours, especially the Ribena, pillarbox, scrofula, and sulphur. |
2. a. Alch. One of the supposed ultimate elements of all material substances.
| 1390 Gower Conf. II. 85 The quikselver..Is ferst of thilke fowre named Of Spiritz,..And the spirit which is secounde In Sal Armoniak is founde: The thridde spirit Sulphur is. ? c 1480 Pater Sapientiæ in Ashm. (1652) 197 Some say that of Sulphur and Mercury all Bodyes minerall are made. ? c 1585 etc. [see salt n.1 4]. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. ii. iii. 153 Where it [sc. matter] retaines more of the humid fatnesse, It turnes to sulphur, or to quicksiluer. 1671 J. Webster Metallogr. iv. 73 Sulpher is nothing else than pure fire hid in the Mercury. 1683 Pettus Fleta Min. ii. 121 All things do consist of Salt, Sulphur and Mercury. 1719 Quincy Compl. Disp. 8 Sulphur or Oil is very soft and unctuous, and the lightest part of Bodies next to Spirit. 1729 [see mercury n. 8]. 1894 Muir Alch. Ess. & Chem. El. 12. |
b. fig.| 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. i. 577 He that,..swelting at the Furnace, fineth bright Our soules dire sulphur. 1599 T. M[oufet] Silkwormes 45 Melt not the golden Sulphur of your hart In following stil this fond and fruitlesse art. 1612 Chapman Rev. Bussy d'Ambois v. iii. 11 Her vnmatched spirit Can iudge of spirits, that haue her sulphure in them. |
† 3. A compound of sulphur;
esp. a sulphide.
Obs.| 1471 Ripley Comp. Alch. Ep., in Ashm. (1652) 111 If it please your Highnes for to reade, Of divers Sulphurs. 1670 Cable tr. Valent. Nat. & Supernat. Things 113 The Sulphur of Iron is found in the Ruby, the Sulphur of Venus in the Emerald. 1683 Digby's Chym. Secr. 33 Make also a Sulphur of the said Metals. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Golden Sulphur of Antimony, is made by boiling the Dross arising in the making of Regulus of Antimony in a little more than its weight of common Water..for about half an Hour, and then straining the Liquor, there is Vinegar poured upon it; on which a Reddish or Gold-colour Powder will precipitate. 1849–50 Weale Dict. Terms, Golden sulphur of antimony, golden yellow, is the hydro-sulphuret of antimony. 1853 Mayne Expos. Lex. 39/1 The white sulphur of the alchemists. |
4. † a. Applied to thunder and lightning, a discharge of gunpowder, etc.
Obs.| 1607 Shakes. Cor. v. iii. 152 To teare with Thunder the wide Cheekes a' th' Ayre, And yet to change [? read charge] thy Sulphure with a Boult That should but riue an Oake. 1611 ― Cymb. v. v. 240 The Gods throw stones of sulpher on me. c 1611 Chapman Iliad xiv. 346 His [sc. Jove's] sulphure casting with the blow, a strong, vnsauoury smoke. 1616 Drummond of Hawthornden Madrigals xviii. Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 107 When first the Canon..Against the Heauen her roaring Sulphure shote. |
b. Applied popularly to minerals containing sulphur or supposed to be sulphurous.
| 1799 Mushet in Phil. Mag. IV. 381 note, When super⁓carbonated crude iron is run from the furnace, it is frequently covered with a scurf, which..is found to be a coating of plumbago..: this substance is universally denominated sulphur and..we say that the iron is sulphury. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 424 The term sulphur is altogether erroneously given to bituminous rocks occurring in Kentucky and Tennessee, even when no sulphur is present. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Sulphur, iron pyrites. |
† c. A volcano.
Obs. rare.
| 1764 Grainger Sugar Cane ii. 392 note, Volcanoes are called sulphurs or solfaterres in the West Indies. |
d. Mining (
local). Carburetted hydrogen, fire-damp.
| 1851 Greenwell Coal-Trade Terms Northumb. & Durh. 53. 1869 Eng. Mech. 3 Dec. 276/1. |
e. vegetable sulphur: see
vegetable a. 7.
5. ellipt. a. = sulphur butterfly (see 9).
| 1832 J. Rennie Consp. Butterfl. & M. 2 The Clouded Sulphur (Colias Euprome, Stephens). Ibid. 223 The Sulphur (Tinea sulphurella, Haworth) appears in November. 1891 B. G. Johns Among Butterfl. 111 A yellow butterfly which he at first took to be a common Sulphur. 1902 W. J. Holland Butterfly Bk. 285 Genus Catopsilia..(The Great Sulphurs). Ibid. 289 Genus Colias..(The Sulphurs). Ibid. 294 Genus Terias..(The Small Sulphurs). |
b. = sulphur-headed cauliflower (see 9).
| 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 626 The late sulphur, sown at the same time, will come into use during April and May. |
c. = sulphur-cast,
-impression (see 8).
| 1801 M. Edgeworth Belinda I. viii. 240 Helena and her young companions now came into the room, bringing with them the sulphurs at which they had been looking. 1867 Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 6) III. 857 Sulphurs, impressions taken by the goldsmiths of the sixteenth century from the engravings executed on plate, paxes, &c., and which they obtained by spreading a layer of melted sulphur on the face of the plate. |
6. colloq. or
slang. Pungent talk, ‘sulphurous’ language.
| 1897 Daily News 31 Aug. 5/7 Doing nothing but sit round and talk sulphur about the new tariff. 1906 Pall Mall Gaz. 11 Jan. 1 By putting as much sulphur as possible into his notorious election address. |
7. attrib. and
Comb. a. Simple
attrib. = Of, pertaining to, consisting of, or containing sulphur, as
sulphur ball,
sulphur bed,
sulphur cure,
sulphur deposit,
sulphur dust,
sulphur flake,
sulphur flame,
sulphur fume,
sulphur fumigation,
sulphur hill,
sulphur mine,
sulphur ore,
sulphur salt,
sulphur soap,
sulphur spa,
sulphur stick,
sulphur vein,
sulphur water,
sulphur well; in medicinal preparations, as
sulphur electuary,
sulphur lotion,
sulphur lozenge,
sulphur ointment,
sulphur tablet.
| 1590 Marlowe 2nd Pt. Tamburl. iii. ii. 41 As if Bellona, Goddesse of the war Threw naked swords and *sulphur-bals of fire. |
| 1878 Times 10 May 4/3 There are..three great *sulphur beds [in the land of Midian]. |
| 1868 Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869) 571 The *sulphur-cure for the oïdium, the most formidable disease that attacks the vine. |
| 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 61/1 The *sulphur-deposits of Sicily. |
| 1688 Holme Armoury iii. xvi. (Roxb.) 92/1 Little balls made vp of powder wett, and rowled in *sulphur dust. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Sulphur-Dust well sifted. |
| 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxx. 420, I have..seen very good effects from a perseverance in the use of the *sulphur electuary. |
| 1820 Shelley Vis. Sea 21 Like *sulphur-flakes hurled from a mine of pale fire. |
| 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. iii. xi. 76 Vpon a *sulpher flame, Your selues shall finde Lorenzo bathing him In boyling lead. 1856 Buckton & Hofmann in Q. Jrnl. Chem. Soc. IX. 251 The black residue burns with a sulphur-flame. |
| 1868 Chambers' Encycl. X. 744/1 There is..nothing new in applying *sulphur-fumes..as a disinfectant. 1895 Arnold & Sons' Catal. Surg. Instrum. 287 Sulphur Fumes Apparatus (Adams's), for diphtheria. |
| 1886 Fagge Princ. Med. II. 665 *Sulphur lotions or *sulphur fumigations may be substituted. |
| 1632 Lithgow Trav. ix. 403 This Grotto..standeth on the side and root of a *sulphure hill. |
| 1844 Hoblyn Dict. Terms Med. (ed. 2) 377/1 *Sulphur lozenges..used in asthma and in hæmorrhoïds. |
| 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. iii. 320 Streams, distilling through the *Sulphur-Mines. 1656 J. Harrington Oceana (1658) 116 Grotta di cane..is nothing else but such a damp (continued by the neighbourhood of certain Sulphur-mines). 1828 Duppa Trav. Italy, etc. 143 The town [of Siculiana] derives considerable advantages from sulphur mines. |
| 1822–7 Good Study Med. (1829) V. 653 The simplest..cure is to be obtained by the *sulphur ointment. |
| 1675 W. Simpson Sulphur-Bath Knarsb. 4 The Salt separated from the Sulphur-water, being put into boyling Milk, will make it shil into Curds and Whey;..we..found the *Sulphur Salt to cause a speedy separation. |
| 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 610 The patient may be washed with *sulphur soap, or with sulphur and tar soap. |
| 1709 T. Robinson Nat. Hist. Westmd. & Cumbd. vii. 45 Towards the Borders of Northumberland, is a *Sulphur-Spaw. |
| 1868 Chambers' Encycl. X. 744/1 A piece of *sulphur⁓stick. |
| 1723 Blackmore Alfred v. 150 Naphtha and *Sulphur-Veins, that kindled rage. |
| 1665 in Verney Mem. (1907) II. 243 The first inst we arrived att the nasty Spaw, and have now began to drinke the horid *sulfer watter. 1854 J. L. Stephens Centr. Amer. 258 A stream of sulphur-water. |
| 1652 J. French Yorkshire Spaw (title-p.) The Stinking, or *Sulphur Well. 1675 W. Simpson Sulphur-Bath Knarsb. 1 The Sulphur-Well at Knarsbrough. 1873 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. XXVI. 1090 Two of the most noted Harrogate Spas, viz., the ‘Old Sulphur Well’ and the ‘Chloride of Iron Spa’. |
b. in chemical terms, as
sulphur atom,
sulphur base,
sulphur compound,
sulphur dioxide,
sulphur group,
sulphur pyrites,
sulphur series,
sulphur trioxide,
sulphur vapour.
| 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 64/1 The junction of one ethyl group with a *sulphur atom in the second salt. |
| 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. i. 36 *Sulphur Compound. |
| 1869 Roscoe Elem. Chem. xii. 126 *Sulphur [ed. 1866 Sulphuric] Dioxide, or Sulphurous Acid. |
| 1884 Ogilvie s.v., *Sulphur group, the elementary substances sulphur, selenium, and tellurium; all having a strong attraction for oxygen. |
| 1856 Miller Elem. Chem., Inorg. 565 Sulphurous acid is..regarded as the starting point of several combinations belonging to the *sulphur series. |
| 1869 Roscoe Elem. Chem. xiii. 129 *Sulphur [ed. 1866 Sulphuric] Trioxide, or Sulphuric Anhydride. |
| 1844 Fownes Man. Elem. Chem. 164 The density of..*sulphur-vapour. |
c. Objective and instrumental, as
sulphur-bearing,
sulphur-containing,
sulphur-flaming,
sulphur-headed,
sulphur-impregnated,
sulphur-scented,
sulphur-smoking,
sulphur-tipped ppl. adjs.;
sulphur-roast vb.| 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 61/2 *Sulphur-bearing Miocene rocks. |
| Ibid. 64/2 A group of *sulphur-containing acids of general formula H2SnO6. |
| 1601 Weever Mirr. Mart. (Roxb.) 198 On flintie Etnaes *sulphur-flaming mountaines. |
| 1898 ‘Merriman’ Roden's Corner xvii. 178 The wooden, *sulphur-headed matches supplied by the café. |
| 1891 Farrar Darkn. & Dawn lvii, The pale *sulphur-impregnated waters of the river Albula. |
| 1802 Coleridge Let. to Southey 25 Dec., The Devil *sulphur-roast them! |
| 1867 A. J. Wilson Vashti vi, Some red-liveried, *sulphur-scented imp of Abaddon. |
| 1628 Mure Doomesday 128 Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 167 Hell's *sulphure-smoking throat. |
| 1728 Pope Dunc. i. 235 Ye shall not..*sulphur-tipt, emblaze an Ale-house fire. |
8. Special combs.:
sulphur acid, an old name for sulphides of electronegative metals, as arsenic, antimony;
sulphur alcohol, a compound of the nature of an alcohol in which sulphur replaces oxygen;
sulphur bacterium Biol., any of the bacteria which derive their energy from the oxidation of sulphur or inorganic compounds of sulphur;
sulphur bath,
† (
a) a sulphur-spring; (
b) a bath to which flowers of sulphur have been added, used in the treatment of skin diseases;
sulphur-cast = sulphur-impression;
sulphur-colour,
-coloured a. = sulphur-yellow n. and
adj.; also
sulphur-hued,
sulphur-tinted;
sulphur cone (see
quot.);
sulphur cycle Ecol., the cycle of changes whereby sulphur compounds are interconverted between sulphates and hydrogen sulphide in the air and sulphates, sulphides, and sulphur in organisms and the soil;
sulphur ether, a compound analogous to ether in which sulphur replaces oxygen;
sulphur-impression, an impression taken of a seal, medallion, etc. in a composition consisting of sulphur and wax;
sulphur-match, a lucifer match tipped with sulphur;
sulphur-ore, an ore which yields sulphur,
e.g. iron pyrites; so
sulphur-pyrites;
sulphur print Metallurgy, a print on photographic bromide paper showing the distribution of sulphur as sulphides in a steel surface with which it has been placed in contact;
sulphur rain (see
quot.);
sulphur salt, an old name for a salt produced by the combination of a ‘sulphur acid’ with another metallic base;
sulphur shower = sulphur rain;
sulphur soap, a medicinal soap containing elemental sulphur for use in treating skin complaints;
sulphur-spring, a spring containing compounds of sulphur or impregnated with sulphurous gases;
sulphur-tree, a hard-wooded tree,
Morinda lucida, found in West Central Africa and used for building purposes;
sulphur-weed = sulphurwort;
sulphur-work(s, a sulphur manufactory;
sulphur-yellow n. and a., (of) the pale-yellow colour characteristic of sulphur.
| 1836 T. Thomson Min., Geol., etc. II. 507 The compounds which it [sc. sulphur] forms with arsenic and antimony..constitute *sulphur acids. 1868 Watts Dict. Chem. V. 643 Sulphur-acids, or Sulphanhydrides. |
| 1876 Encycl. Brit. V. 553/1 *Sulphur, Selenium, and Tellurium Alcohols and Ethers. |
| 1891 A. B. Griffiths Res. on Micro-Organisms viii. 179 All belong to the class of ‘*sulphur-bacteria’..—that is, bacteria which in the presence of free hydrogen-sulphide oxidize sulphur, forming sulphuric acid. 1939 Clements & Shelford Bio-Ecol. iii. 101 Hydrogen sulphide is also acted upon by a remarkable group of sulphur bacteria. 1962 W. W. Umbreit Mod. Microbiol. xv. 276/2 There are three major types of photosynthetic bacteria. The first two of them, the thiorhodaceae and the chlorobacteriaceae, are sulfur bacteria. 1979 Arms & Camp Biology x. 165 Purple and green sulfur bacteria (Thiorhodaceae) use hydrogen gas and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) as hydrogen donors. |
| 1675 W. Simpson (title) A Discourse of the *Sulphur-Bath at Knarsbrough in York-Shire. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxviii. 355 By the use of sulphur baths,..all were greatly improved. 1891 Farrar Darkn. & Dawn iii, The sulphur baths of Sinuessa. |
| 1909 Le Queux House of Whispers xxviii. (1913) 195 *Sulphur-casts of seals recently acquired by that institution. |
| 1866 Treas. Bot., Sulphureus, *sulphur-colour; a pale bright-yellow, with a mixture of white. 1897 Daily News 24 Apr. 6/4 Sulphur-colour goes admirably with tan. |
| 1811 Shaw Gen. Zool. VIII. ii. 480 A *sulphur-coloured spot beneath each eye. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 863 Sulphur-coloured scabs. |
| 1842 Francis Dict. Arts, *Sulphur Cone, an electrical experiment and apparatus to prove the effect of separation of the contact of two bodies, occasioning them to show signs of electricity. |
| 1967 New Scientist 9 Nov. 333/1 The continuation and evolution of life depends upon a stable eco-system. A characteristic of such a system is that cyclical transformations of the major biological elements take place within it—the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle, the *sulphur cycle and so on. 1973 R. G. Krueger et al. Introd. Microbiol. xxx. 745/2 Bacteria can carry out each of the processes in the sulfur cycle; bacteria and certain colorless blue-green algae are the only known living agents of the steps involving interconversions of inorganic forms of sulfur. 1977 I. M. Campbell Energy & Atmosphere viii. 289 More efficient dispersal of sulphur dioxide at source cannot be regarded as an acceptable long term solution, since that merely transfers the problem to another region or country, the problem intensified by the fact that the anthropogenic term in the sulphur cycle is of the same order of magnitude as the natural terms. |
| 1857 Gosse Omphalos vii. 172 Delicate *sulphur-hued flowers. |
| 1840 R. Ellis Customs IV. 154 Duties on..*Sulphur Impressions, for every 100l value {pstlg}5 0s. 0d. |
| 1830 M. Donovan Dom. Econ. I. 281 By means of burning *sulphur matches in the casks. 1879 Farrar St. Paul (1883) 568 They sold sulphur matches, and old clothes, and broken glass. |
| 1681 Grew Musæum iii. iii. ii. 345 *Sulphur-Ore..if burnt..hath the scent of Brimstone. 1871 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. XXIV. 449 On the Roasting of Sulphur Ores, with a New Roasting Oven. |
| 1912 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. LXXXV. 380, I have adopted a method which is virtually a modification of the well known method of obtaining a ‘*sulphur print’. 1977 R. B. Ross Handbk. Metal Treatments & Testing 373 Chemical analysis and micro-examination..require laboratory equipment and skilled personnel, whereas the Sulphur print may be used in relatively unsophisticated conditions. |
| 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 75 The compound of Sulphur and Iron, called Martial Pyrites, or, *Sulphur Pyrites and often simply Pyrites. |
| 1882 H. Edmonds Elem. Bot. 132 Often in Fir forests the pollen is given off into the air in such enormous quantities that it is washed down by the rain as a yellow powder, and is popularly known as *sulphur rain. |
| 1836 T. Thomson Min., Geol., etc. II. 507 Sulphur acids..have the property of combining with other metallic sulphurets as bases, and thus of forming what are called *sulphur salts. |
| 1854 Thoreau Walden 340 The sulphur-like pollen of the pitch pine soon covered the pond and the stones and rotten wood... This is the ‘*sulphur showers’ we hear of. 1883 Evang. Mag. July 311 The so⁓called ‘sulphur-showers’ often seen in pine forests. |
| 1894 A. Watt Art of Soap-Making xxi. 172 Sir H. Marsh's *Sulphur Soap... A few drops of otto of roses are added to give the soap an agreeable fragrance. 1925 G. Martin Mod. Soap & Detergent Industr. II. ii. iv. 34 Sulphur soaps, when dissolved in water, slowly evolve sulphuretted hydrogen, which gives them an unpleasant smell. 1953 J. Davidsohn et al. Soap Manuf. I. xxii. 505 Sulfur soaps are frequently prepared in combination with beta-naphthol, tar, glycerine and camphor. |
| 1785 T. Jefferson Notes on Virginia vi. 59 We are told of a *Sulphur-spring on Howard's creek of Greenbriar. 1811 W. J. Hooker Jrnl. Tour in Iceland in 1809 195 We could not resist the present temptation of alighting from our horses, to visit one of the sulphur-springs that lay in our route. 1874 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. XXVII. 881 The Sulphur Springs of Trentschin-Teplitz. |
| 1895 Daily News 2 Aug. 6/6 *Sulphur⁓tinted nasturtiums. |
| 1863 R. F. Burton Abeok. & Camaroons II. 77 The *sulphur-tree..also called brimstone-tree. |
| 1850 Miss Pratt Comm. Things Sea-side i. 67 The Sea *Sulphur⁓weed. |
| 1870 Kingsley At Last ii, In 1836, two gentlemen of Antigua..set up *sulphur works at the Souffrière of St. Lucia. |
| 1816 Stephens in Shaw's Gen. Zool. IX. ii. 381 Bunting of a blood-coloured rufous; beneath *sulphur-yellow. 1896 W. F. Kirby Handbk. Order Lepid. II. 209 Of a yellow colour, varying from light sulphur-yellow to deep orange. |
9. a. attrib. passing into adj. = ‘Of the colour of sulphur, sulphur-coloured, sulphur-yellow’, chiefly in specific names of animals having sulphur-yellow colouring, as
sulphur butterfly,
sulphur cockatoo,
sulphur parakeet,
sulphur pearl;
esp. in parasynthetic comb., as
sulphur-bellied,
sulphur-breasted,
sulphur-crested,
sulphur-headed adjs.;
sulphur-bottom (whale), Sibbald's rorqual (see
Sibbald);
sulphur (-crested) cockatoo, a white cockatoo,
Kakatoe galerita, with a yellow crest, native to Australia;
sulphur tuft, a toadstool,
Hypholoma fasciculare, with a yellow cap tinged with brown.
| 1884 Coues N. Amer. Birds 431 Myiodynastes luteiventris, *Sulphur-bellied Striped Flycatcher. |
| 1782 Crèvecœur Lett. Amer. Farmer vi. (1783) 111 The *sulphur-bottom, river St. Lawrence, ninety feet long. 1851 H. Melville Moby Dick I. xxxi. 221 Adieu, Sulphur-Bottom! 1904 F. T. Bullen Creat. Sea xiv. 177 A huge sulphur-bottom whale..which..attains a maximum length of one hundred and fifty feet. 1934 R. Campbell Broken Record iv. 94 These blue whales are the great sulphur-bottoms. 1959 A. C. Hardy Open Sea II. xv. 280 It [sc. Sibbald's rorqual] has also been called the sulphur-bottom whale on account of a yellowish scum of diatoms which these whales usually carry when they first return to polar waters again after visiting warmer latitudes for breeding. |
| 1909 Daily Chron. 6 Feb. 3/3 The *sulphur-breasted toucan. |
| 1879 Jefferies Wild Life in S. Co. 207 *Sulphur butterflies hover here early in the spring. 1891 B. G. Johns Among Butterfl. 98 The Brimstone or Sulphur butterfly. |
| 1899 Daily News 7 Oct. 8/5 White or *sulphur-chain-stitch. |
| 1811 Shaw Gen. Zool. VIII. ii. 480 Smaller *Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Psittacus sulphureus. 1893 F. F. Moore I forbid Banns 73 Did you ever hear a real sulphur cockatoo in its own woods, mister? 1908 E. J. Banfield Confessions of Beachcomber i. i. 17 Sulphur-crested cockatoos sail down upon the red raiment of the tree. 1963 Times 8 June 14/3 Probably the most talkative..is one of the four sulphur-crested cockatoos. |
| 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 626 *Sulphur⁓headed [cauliflower], of which the best variety is the Portsmouth. |
| 1811 Shaw Gen. Zool. VIII. ii. 428 *Sulphur Parrakeet. |
| 1832 J. Rennie Butterfl. & M. 152 The *Sulphur Pearl (Margaritia palealis, Stephens). |
| 1909 E. W. Swanton Fungi 115 ‘*Sulphur-tuft’... Taste intensely bitter. Poisonous. 1979 Country Life 25 Oct. 1423/1 The fruiting bodies of sulphur tuft..also grow on tree stumps. |
| 1829 T. C. Haliburton Hist. & Statistical Acct. Nova Scotia II. ix. 404 Fish-Whale Species. *Sulphur Whale. a 1860 J. W. Dawson in Borthwick's Br. Amer. Rar. 221 Another rorqual..is known from its yellow belly as the sulphur-whale. |
† b. as
adj. Sulphureous, sulphurous.
Obs.| 1594 Marlowe & Nashe Dido ii. i, Came Hector's ghost, With ashy visage, blueish sulphur eyes. 1596 Edward III, iii. i. 121 Stir, angry Nemesis, the happie helme, That, with the sulphur battels of your rage, The English Fleete may be disperst and sunke. |
▪ II. sulphur, v. (
ˈsʌlfə(r))
[f. sulphur n. Cf. F. soufrer, Du. solferen, sulferen. In Urquhart's
Rabelais (1653) i. xvii. ‘sulfured, hopary-mated, moiled and bepist’ renders
folfré et habaliné of the original. Urquhart's copy of the French no doubt had
solfré, the reading of the first
ed., and
app. the source also of Cotgrave's
solfié (glossed ‘solfaed; also, distempered’). Modern editors explain
folfré as
= made mad.]
1. trans. To fumigate with burning sulphur,
e.g. for the purpose of bleaching goods, disinfecting, preventing fermentation in casks; to sprinkle (plants) with flowers of sulphur to prevent mould or the like; also, to put (wine) into casks that have been fumigated with sulphur.
| 1759 Phil. Trans. LI. 363 note, When the stockings were perfectly new, or the black dipt afresh, and the white newly cleaned and sulphured. 1830 M. Donovan Dom. Econ. I. 281 For the purpose of sulphuring wines. 1867 Bloxam Chem. 198 Casks for wine or beer are sulphured in order to prevent the action of any substance contained in the pores of the wood. 1883 Stratton Hops & Hop-pickers 24 Sulphuring the hop is frequently used to destroy mould insects. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 608/1 Immediately after..they blossom the vines are sulphured, to keep off the Oidium. |
2. To treat with sulphur waters.
rare.
| 1837 H. Martineau Soc. Amer. I. 255 The season had not begun, few having been yet sufficiently sulphured and bathed elsewhere to come here to be braced. |
3. To fasten firmly with molten sulphur.
rare.
| 1867 Chambers' Jrnl. Sept. 624/1 An iron hook sulphured into a small glass flask. |