Sulphuretting

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Mixing or treating a substance with sulphur, often to form a sulphide compound
2. Adding sulphur to a material or chemical so that it becomes combined with the element
3. Impregnating or combining something with sulphur as part of a chemical or industrial process

Etymology: "Sulphuretting" is the present participle and gerund of "sulphuret," a verb meaning to combine or treat with sulphur. The verb is built on "sulphuret," which is itself a noun formed from "sulphur" with the Latin-derived suffix "-et," a diminutive-style ending used in chemistry to name compounds. Early chemists applied "sulphuret" to substances in which sulphur had been combined with another element, so a metal that had been fused with sulphur was described as a sulphuret of that metal. The "-ing" forms follow the usual English pattern for turning a verb into a participle or verbal noun, so "sulphuretting" describes the action of combining something with sulphur. Because the base word is a technical coinage from chemical nomenclature rather than an everyday term, the word stays confined to scientific and historical writing, where it reads as precise rather than poetic.

Synonyms: sulphurize, sulfurate