Sulphuret

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A chemical compound formed when sulfur combines with another element, especially a metal, in an older naming system
2. An archaic term for a binary compound containing sulfur bonded to a single other element such as a metal
3. A substance made by joining sulfur with another element, once used in chemistry as a name for what is now called a sulfide

Etymology: In 1787, the French chemists Guyton de Morveau, Lavoisier and their colleagues published a new system for naming chemical substances, and the English translation of that book in 1788 introduced "sulphuret" to English. The translator, James St. John, rendered the French "sulfure" with this word, which was coined from Latin "sulphuretum", meaning something relating to sulphur or a sulphide. The word is built from "sulphur" and the suffix "-uret", a chemical ending used to name compounds in which one element combines with another, so a sulphuret is a compound containing sulphur. The spelling "sulfur" later became standard in most English usage, which is why "sulfuret" is the modern form and "sulphuret" now looks archaic.

Synonyms: sulfide