Dictionary

sulphureous en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /sʌlˈf(j)ɔːɹɪəs/ (UK)

Etymology

From Latin sulphureus, sulfureus.

Meanings

1. (UK, archaic) Sulphurous.
   • The plain of Naples is the image of human passions; sulphureous and fertile; its dangers and its pleasures seem born of these fiery volcanoes, which give the air so many charms, and cause the thunderbolt to growl beneath our feet. 1807, [Germaine] de Staël Holstein, translated by D[ennis] Lawler, “[[Book XIII. Vesuvius and the plain of Naples.] Chap[ter] IV.] The extempore effusion of Corinna on the Plain of Naples.”, in Corinna; or, Italy. […], volume III, London: […] Corri, […]; and sold by Colburn, […], and Mackenzie, […], →OCLC, page 236:
   • Thy blazing hearths, / From deep sulphureous pits, consumeless stores / Of fuel boast. 1754, Robert Dodsley, Public Virtue, page 46:
   • An excited and highly distempered ideality threw a sulphureous lustre over all. 1839, Edgar Allan Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher:
   • The next morning I went to see the hot-springs and mud volcanoes, for which this place is celebrated. A picturesque path among plantations and ravines brought us to a beautiful circular basin about forty feet in diameter, bordered by a calcareous ledge, so uniform and truly curved, that it looked like a work of art. It was filled with clear water very near the boiling point, and emitted clouds of steam with a strong sulphureous odour. 1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 405:

Forms

Deriveds

sulphureity · sulphureously · sulphureousness · unsulphureous