sulfate
/ˈsʌlfeɪt/ noun, verb
Forms sulfates sulfating sulfated sulphate
- noun (organic chemistry) Any salt or ester of sulfuric acid.
- verb (American spelling, transitive, chemistry) To treat something with sulfuric acid, a sulfate, or with sulfur dioxide.
- verb (of a lead-acid battery) To accumulate a deposit of lead sulfate.
Synonyms
Etymology
From French sulfate, from New Latin sulphatum, taken from the expression acidum sulphatum (“sulfuric acid”), from sulphatus, from Latin sulphur (“sulfur”). The term was first used in 1787 by the French chemist L. B. G. De Morveau. Equivalent to sulf(ur) + -ate (“salt or ester”).
From the above noun, through -ate (verb-forming suffix).
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “sulfate”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details