Arsenics

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A group of chemical compounds containing arsenic in varying oxidation states that exhibit toxic properties in different forms
2. Various toxic substances derived from the element arsenic, often used in agriculture and industry with health risks associated
3. Compounds involving arsenic, known for their potential dangers to human health and the environment, particularly in specific concentrations

Etymology: Arsenic, the element, was named after a substance the ancients knew as a yellow mineral. The Greek "arsenikon" meant "yellow arsenic" (a yellow sulfide ore, orpiment), and the name was reshaped by association with "arsenikos," meaning "potent" or "virile," a flattering link that reflected how strong the substance was in its effects. The Greek word passed into Latin as "arsenicum" and then into French and English, where it arrived in Middle English as "arsenik." Its deeper roots lie far from Greece. Scholars trace the word to a Semitic term, reflected in Syriac and Arabic forms such as "al-zarnikh," which was borrowed from a Middle Iranian word for the substance. That Iranian form goes back to an Old Median word meaning "golden," linked to the same root as Sanskrit "hiranya" and Persian "zar," both meaning "gold." So a word for a poisonous mineral began life as a description of its gleaming colour. Plural "arsenics" is the form of "arsenic" used for the group of arsenic compounds, each carrying the element in a different oxidation state and with its own toxicity.

Synonyms: arsenic compounds