Phosphorus

How to spell phosphorus

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce phosphorus

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does phosphorus mean?

1. nounA reactive non-metallic chemical element (symbol P) essential to living cells and widely used in fertilisers and matches.

Phosphorus in a sentence

• The fertiliser label lists nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium as its main nutrients.

• Farmers add phosphorus to the soil to encourage strong root growth.

Where does phosphorus come from?

Language of origin: Greek

Phosphorus comes from the Greek phosphoros, meaning 'light-bringing' or 'light-bearer', built from phos 'light' and the verb pherein 'to carry or bear'. In ancient Greek it was the name of the morning star, the planet Venus seen at dawn bringing the light of day. The German alchemist Hennig Brand isolated the chemical element in 1669, boiling down vast quantities of urine, and the glowing, faintly luminous substance he obtained was christened phosphorus precisely because it seemed to carry its own light. English adopted the Latinised spelling with its final -us, which is the spelling trap: the noun for the element ends in -us, while the related adjective is spelled 'phosphorous'. The same phos root lights up 'photograph' and 'phosphorescent', a handy reminder that the word is fundamentally about light.

How the word is built

• phos- (light)
• phor (bearer, carrier)
• -us (Latin noun ending)