phosphorus
/ˈfɒs.fə.ɹəs//ˈfɑs.fɚ.əs/
phosphorus noun: a chemical element (symbol P) with an atomic number of 15, that exists in several allotropic forms.
Noun
phosphorus (countable and uncountable, plural phosphoruses or phosphori)
- A chemical element (symbol P) with an atomic number of 15, that exists in several allotropic forms.
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:phosphorus.
- Any substance exhibiting phosphorescence; a phosphor.
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:phosphorus.
Proper noun capitalized: Phosphorus
UK/ˈfɒsfərəs/US/ˈfɑsfɚəs/
Phosphorus
- A name sometimes used for Hesperus, the personification in Greek mythology of the planet Venus.
- Synonyms:
- Hesperus
- An Ancient Greek name for the morning star (the planet Venus when it is visible in the eastern sky before sunrise).
- Near-synonyms: evening star, evenstar, Hesperus, Vesper, Venus
- Synonyms:
- morning star, Eosphorus, Lucifer, evening star, evenstar, Hesperus, Vesper, Venus
phosphorus meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Telugu
phosphorus in Hindi
- element
- भास्वर bhāsvar
phosphorus in Tamil
- element
- தீமுறி tīmuṟi, பிரகாசிதம் pirakācitam, பாஸ்பரஸ் pāsparas
phosphorus in Marathi
- element
- स्फुरद sphurad
phosphorus in Telugu
- element
- భాస్వరం bhāsvaraṁ
More languagesFewer languages
- phosphorus in Malayalam
- ഫോസ്ഫറസ് phōsphaṟasŭ
- phosphorus in Kannada
- ಬೆಳಕೊಯ್ಯುಕ, ರಂಜಕ, ಬೆಳಕ
- phosphorus in Gujarati
- ભાસ્વર bhāsvar
- phosphorus in Tagalog
- posporo
- phosphorus in Arabic
- فُسْفُور fusfūr
- phosphorus in Malay
- fosforus
- phosphorus in Persian
- فسفر fosfor
- phosphorus in Thai
- ฟอสฟอรัส fɔ́ɔs-fɔɔ-rás
- phosphorus in Vietnamese
- photpho, phốtpho
Examples of phosphorus in a sentence
- Phosphorus will only begin to luminesce at a certain small pressure of oxygen.
- Benzophenone is reacted with phosphorus pentachloride to give diphenyldichloromethane.
- White phosphorus ignites on contact with the air.
Synonyms of phosphorus
Forms of phosphorus
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | phosphoruses |
| plural | phosphori |
| Proper noun | |
| alternative form | Phosphor |
Origin of phosphorus
Borrowed from Latin phōsphorus, from Ancient Greek φωσφόρος (phōsphóros, “the bearer of light”), from φῶς (phôs, “light”) + φέρω (phérō, “to bear, carry”).
From Latinised Greek Phosphorus, from Ancient Greek Φωσφόρος (Phōsphóros, “the bearer of light”), from φῶς (phôs, “light”) + φέρω (phérō, “to bear, carry”).
Words formed from phosphorus
- althupite
- Baldwin's phosphorus
- black phosphorus
- Bolognian phosphorus
- Bologna phosphorus
- Bononian phosphorus
- Canton's phosphorus
- cuprophosphorus
- decaphosphorus
- diphosphorus
- ferrophosphorus
- foss
- phos
- phoss
- fossy
- phossy
- heptaphosphorus
- hexaphosphorus
- Hittorf's phosphorus
- Homberg's phosphorus
- mercurial phosphorus
- Montalbano's phosphorus
- nonaphosphorus
- nonphosphorus
- octaphosphorus
- organophosphorus
- pentaphosphorus
- phosphane
- phosphonium
- phosphorate
- phosphorene
- phosphorent
- phosphoreous
- phosphoresce
- phosphoriferous
- phosphorite
- phosphoro-
- phosphorolysis
- phosphorus-31
- phosphorus bottle
- phosphorus cachexia
- phosphorus chloride
- phosphorus cycle
- phosphoruslike
- phosphorus liver
- phosphorus match
- phosphorus necrosis
- phosphorus oxybromide
- phosphorus oxychloride
- phosphorus oxynitride
- phosphorus paste
- phosphorus pentabromide
- phosphorus pentachloride
- phosphorus pentafluoride
- phosphorus pentasulfide
- phosphorus pentasulphide
- phosphorus pentoxide
- phosphorus poisoning
- phosphorus sesquisulfide
- phosphorus sesquisulphide
Phrases with phosphorus
- red phosphorus
- phosphorus steel
- phosphorus ylide
- white phosphorus
- phosphorus cycles
- phosphorus pastes
- phosphorus steels
- phosphorus ylides
- violet phosphorus
- yellow phosphorus
- phosphorus bottles
- phosphorus matches
2 more phrasesFewer phrases
Questions about phosphorus
- What does phosphorus mean?
- Phosphorus means a chemical element (symbol P) with an atomic number of 15, that exists in several allotropic forms.
- What is phosphorus in Hindi?
- Phosphorus in Hindi is भास्वर (bhāsvar). See Phosphorus meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is phosphorus?
- Phosphorus can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce phosphorus?
- Phosphorus is pronounced /ˈfɒs.fə.ɹəs/ (UK).
- What is the plural of phosphorus?
- The plural of phosphorus is phosphoruses.
Words near phosphorus in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: phosphorus (page history and authors); Phosphorus (page history and authors); phosphorus (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ભાસ્વર (Gujarati) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-phosphorus.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Tesco250-phosphorus.wav.
Cite this entry: “phosphorus.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/phosphorus. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.