Sulfurising

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Treating a material by combining it with sulfur, or adding sulfur to a substance during a chemical process
2. Adding sulphur to something, often to vulcanize rubber or to change the chemical makeup of a compound
3. Introducing the element sulfur into a substance through chemical reaction or treatment as part of a manufacturing method

Etymology: Sulphur was the name of the element long before anyone thought to make a verb from it. The Latin "sulfur" passed into Middle English as "sulphur", and the English spelling "sulfur" later settled alongside it. The verb "sulfurise" is a simple combination: the noun "sulfur" with the suffix "-ise", which English borrowed through Middle French from Late Latin "-izare" and ultimately from Ancient Greek "-izein", a suffix used to turn nouns into verbs meaning "to treat with" or "to make into" something. So "sulfurising" describes the act of treating something with sulfur, or of making it contain sulfur. The "-ise" spelling is the British choice; American English usually writes "sulfurizing", using the "-ize" form of the same suffix.

Synonyms: sulphurising, sulphurizing