Sulphidizes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To convert into or coat with a compound containing sulfur and a metal element ; to chemically treat a surface by introducing sulfur atoms ; to undergo or cause a transformation into a sulfide form
2. The process of changing a material's surface to include sulfur and metal ions ; the action of chemically bonding sulfur to a substance ; the alteration of a compound to produce its sulfur-containing equivalent
3. To induce a chemical reaction that forms metal sulfides on or within a substance ; to expose a material to sulfur leading to sulfide formation ; to treat a compound so that it acquires sulfur-based properties

Etymology: "Sulphidizes" is the third-person singular form of "sulphidize," a verb meaning to treat something with sulphur or convert it into a sulphide. The base verb is built from "sulphide," a chemical term coined in the 19th century from "sulphur" plus the suffix "-ide," which chemists adopted to name binary compounds of an element with a more electronegative partner (as in "oxide" and "chloride"). The "-ize" ending, from Greek "-izein" through Latin and French, turns the noun into a verb meaning to subject something to a process. The verb is a modern technical formation rather than an old word, and its earliest uses appear in metallurgy and mineral chemistry, where ores and metals were treated with sulphur or sulphide-forming agents. The "-ize" suffix is productive in chemistry and industry, which is why such formations are common in specialist writing.

Synonyms: sulphidize, sulfurize