mephitis
/məˈfaɪ.tɪs/
mephitis noun: a poisonous or foul-smelling gas, especially as emitted from the earth; an unpleasant smell.
Noun
mephitis (countable and uncountable, plural mephitises)
- A poisonous or foul-smelling gas, especially as emitted from the earth; an unpleasant smell.
- The Abbe had, in the district of Latera, observed that in a mephitis of hydrogenous sulphurated or hepatic gas, a slow combustion of phosphorus took place, with the same resplendence as in the atmospheric air.1822, Samuel Griswold Goodrich, Cabinet of curiosities: natural, artificial, and historical, page 140
- He attempted several times to fire inflammable gas, with electric sparks, in the mephitic vapor, by means of the conductor of the electrophus; but, notwithstanding his utmost endeavors to animate the electricity, he could never obtain a single spark, the non-conductor becoming a conductor the...1868, John Loraine Abbott, The Home-book of Wonders, in Nature, Science and Art, page 135
- A dilution of fluids derived from skunks or polecats.
- Mephitis, in water, did not at first relieve the cough, so that I was compelled to prescribe another remedy; but after taking this for a short time, the father averred that he thought the first remedy, Mephitis, had a better effect than the last.1854, C. Neidhard, “Mephitis Putorius and Other Remedies in Hooping Cough”, in The British Journal of Homoeopathy, page 436
- I do not see why Dr. Hensley should object to the internal administration of Variolinum any more than to that of lachesis, mephitis, etc.1907, American Institute of Homeopathy, Transactions of the Sixty-third Sessions, page 501
Proper noun capitalized: Mephitis
Mephitis
- Alternative form of Mefitis.
Synonyms of mephitis
Forms of mephitis
| plural | mephitises |
|---|
Origin of mephitis
From Latin mefītis, mephītis, from the name of a Samnite goddess who personified the poisonous gases emitted from swamps and volcanoes.
Questions about mephitis
- What does mephitis mean?
- Mephitis means a poisonous or foul-smelling gas, especially as emitted from the earth; an unpleasant smell.
- What part of speech is mephitis?
- Mephitis can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce mephitis?
- Mephitis is pronounced /məˈfaɪ.tɪs/.
- What is the plural of mephitis?
- The plural of mephitis is mephitises.
Words near mephitis in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: mephitis (page history and authors); Mephitis (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-mephitis.wav.
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