PHLOGISTON
phlogiston
(noun) a hypothetical substance once believed to be present in all combustible materials and to be released during burning
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
phlogiston (usually uncountable, plural phlogistons)
(chemistry, historical) The hypothetical fiery principle formerly assumed to be a necessary constituent of combustible bodies and to be given up by them in burning.
Anagrams
• postholing
Source: Wiktionary
Phlo*gis"ton, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. Phlox.] (Old Chem.)
Definition: The hypothetical principle of fire, or inflammability, regarded by Stahl as a chemical element.
Note: This was supposed to be united with combustible (phlogisticated) bodies and to be separated from incombustible (dephlogisticated) bodies, the phenomena of flame and burning being the escape of phlogiston. Soot and sulphur were regarded as nearly pure phlogiston. The essential principle of this theory was, that combustion was a decomposition rather than the union and combination which it has since been shown to be.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Word of the Day
16 November 2024
LEAVE
(verb) go and leave behind, either intentionally or by neglect or forgetfulness; “She left a mess when she moved out”; “His good luck finally left him”; “her husband left her after 20 years of marriage”; “she wept thinking she had been left behind”
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