sulphurous, a.
(ˈsʌlfjʊərəs, in Chem. use sʌlˈfjʊərəs)
Also 6 sulpherus, -urus, 6–7 -erous, 7 sulferous, 7–8 sulph'rous, 7, 9 (U.S.) sulfurous.
[ad. L. sulphurōsus (whence OF. sulphureux, from 14th cent.), or f. sulphur n. + -ous. In sense 5 ad. mod.F. sulfureux (Nomencl. Chimique, 1787).]
1. = sulphureous 1.
| 1530 Palsgr. 326/2 Sulpherus, of the nature of brimston, sulphureux. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 66 Eech path was fulsoom with sent of sulphurus orpyn. 1612 Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 221 Aqua vitæ is the Sulphurous part of Wine. 1635 Swan Spec. Mundi v. §2 (1643) 122 Lightning..cometh from sulfurous and other poysonous metallick substances. 1686 Lond. Gaz. No. 2163/2 Fire-balls, and other Sulphurous Fire-works. 1825 Scott Talism. i, The slimy and sulphurous substance called naphtha. 1872 Crookes tr. Wagner's Handbk. Chem. Technol. 257 Alum-shale or schist is a sulphurous iron pyrites. 1879 Farrar St. Paul (1883) 484 Amid the sulphurous storm, she gazed back on the voluptuous ease of the City of the Plain. |
b. = sulphureous 1 b.
| 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 489 The waters called sulphurous, contain sulphuretted hydrogen. 1856 Page Adv. Text-bk. Geol. iii. 34 Sulphurous mud-springs. |
2. = sulphureous 2.
| 1607 Dekker Knt.'s Conjur. v. G iij, A Sulphurous stench. 1625 tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. ii. 420 The Ile of Folgo, which casteth out sulphurous [ed. 1630 sulphury] flames. 1683 Tryon Way to Health 68 The sulpherous moist Vapours, which are of a fierce and sharp Nature are evaporated. 1748 Anson's Voy. i. x. 104 A strong sulphurous stench. 1868 M. E. Braddon Dead Sea Fr. ii. I. 18 The sulphurous odours of a brickfield. |
b. Applied to thunder and lightning (poet.), † hence to thundery or sultry weather. Also occas. volcanic. Cf. sulphureous 2 b.
| 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. ii. 115 Mercifull heauen, Thou rather with thy sharpe and sulpherous bolt Splits the..gnarled Oke, Then the soft Mertill. 1610 ― Temp. i. ii. 204 Cracks Of sulphurous roaring. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 7 The weather was very sulphurous and raging hot. 1660 Hickeringill Jamaica (1661) 4, I have found the Aire as sulferous and hot in England..as in the hottest seasons at Iamaica. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 171 The Sulphurous Hail Shot after us in storm. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam ii. xiv, A sulphurous hill. 1820 Wordsw. San Salvador 5 Sink (if thou must) as heretofore, To sulphurous bolts a sacrifice. |
c. Of or belonging to (the smoke of) gunpowder.
| 1620 Dekker Dreame 6 The Canons Sulphurous thundering. 1622 Drayton Poly-olb. xxix. 264 When Edenbrough and Leeth, into the air were blown With powder's sulphurous smoke. 1801 Campbell Hohenlinden 24 Where furious Frank and fiery Hun Shout in their sulphurous canopy. 1816 Byron Siege Cor. xxix, From every crevice comes the shot; From every shatter'd window pour The volleys of the sulphurous shower. |
3. allusively and fig. a. Pertaining to sulphur or brimstone as an adjunct of hell or the infernal regions; hellish, satanic. Also, pertaining to or dealing with hell-fire.
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. v. 3 When I to sulphurous and tormenting Flames Must render vp my selfe. 1605 ― Lear iv. vi. 130 There's hell, there's darkenes, there is the sulphurous pit. 1682 Creech tr. Lucretius iii. 26 No Hell, no sulphurous Lakes. 1812 Shelley Devil's Walk 138 His sulphurous Majesty. 1816 Southey Poet's Pilgr. i. i. 4 Like Satan rising from the sulphurous flood. 1886 H. W. Beecher in Christ. World Pulpit XXIX. 761 Their hands [sc. pirates'] are red with blood; their hearts are sulphurous. 1903 J. C. Smith R. Wallace 126 The sulphurous theology of the North of Scotland. |
b. In immaterial sense: Fiery, heated.
| 1611 B. Jonson Catiline iii. G 3, She ha's a sulphurous spirit, and will take Light at a sparke. a 1628 Sir J. Beaumont Agst. Abused Love 87 And with a pandar's sulph'rous breath inflam'd, Became a meteor, for destruction fram'd. 1650 T. Hubbert Pill Formality 138 Quenching his sulphurous lust in dirty puddles. 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. x. ii. II. 583 Duc de Rohan rose, in a sulphurous frame of mind. |
c. Of language, expression: Characterized by heat; in recent use, blasphemous, profane.
| [1616: see sulphurious quot. 1599.] 1828 Carlyle Misc. (1857) I. 78 And so on through many other sulphurous pages. 1865 Holland Plain Talk ii. 69 The sulphurous satire which he points with such deadly fire at the very Society which makes him fashionable. 1879 [see sulphurously]. 1897 C. Morley Stud. Board Schools 3 He used strong language..sulphurous words, and the very biggest D's, I was assured. |
4. = sulphureous 4. Also advb.
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. i. ii. viii, Burning sulphurous-blue,..it still shines. 1899 W. T. Greene Cage-Birds 50 The Sulphurous Finch. 1908 Daily Chron. 17 June 6/5 Her dress of sulphurous green cloth. |
5. Chem. Designating compounds in which sulphur is present in a larger proportion than in sulphuric compounds. sulphurous acid: (a) more fully, sulphurous acid gas († air), an old name for sulphur dioxide; (b) the acid (H2SO3) resulting from the combination of sulphur dioxide with water. sulphurous oxide or sulphurous anhydride: sulphur dioxide, SO2, a transparent colourless gas with a pungent and suffocating smell, obtained by burning sulphur in dry air or oxygen. Hence, designating compounds derived from sulphurous acid, as sulphurous chloride, sulphurous ether.
| 1790 Kerr tr. Lavoisier's Elem. Chem. Pref. p. xxviii, The sulphurous combinations. Ibid. 223 The sulphurous acid is formed by the union of oxygen with sulphur by a lesser degree of oxygenation than the sulphuric acid. 1812 Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. Wks. 1840 IV. 25 Sulphurous acid air. 1823 Faraday Exp. Res. xx. 89 Mercury, and concentrated sulphuric acid were sealed up in a bent tube and..heat was carefully applied. Sulphurous acid gas was produced where the heat acted. 1848 Fownes Man. Elem. Chem. (ed. 2) 392 Sulphurous ether; AeO,SO2. 1868 Watts Dict. Chem. V. 540 Sulphurous Oxide, or Sulphurous Anhydride, SO2. Ibid. 542 Sulphurous Chloride, SOCl2. Chloride of Thionyl. Sulphurous Chloraldehyde. 1897 H. Aldersmith Ringworm (ed. 4) 185 Sulphurous acid..is an excellent parasiticide. |
Hence ˈsulphurously adv., in a sulphurous manner; esp. with ‘sulphurous’ language.
| 1879 F. H. Burnett Haworth's II. vii. 81 Haworth stopped him by swearing again, something more sulphurously than before. 1891 Farrar Darkness & Dawn II. 218 The morning dawned sulphurously hot. 1897 A. Page Afternoon Ride 73 Dr. Browne sulphurously insisting on his wife receiving this ‘lady’ with cordiality. |