Sulfurous
/ˈsʌl.fjə.rəs/noun
Containing or resembling sulfur; also used figuratively for something fiery, harsh, or hellish.
Did you know?The word’s root is tied to sulfur itself, the infamous “brimstone” of biblical fire imagery, which helped make sulfur smell like the vocabulary of hell in European imagination.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*swelp-
“to burn, blaze, or smolder”
Latin
Latin
sulfur, sulphur
“sulfur; a burning mineral associated with fire and smoke”
Late Latin
Latin
sulfurōsus
“full of sulfur; sulfur-like”
Old French
Old French
sulfureux
“sulfurous; fiery, pungent, hellish”
Middle English
English
sulfurous
“having the properties or smell of sulfur”
Modern English
English
sulfurous
“containing or resembling sulfur; harsh, fiery, or noxious in tone”