oxygen

English Online Dictionary. What means oxygen‎? What does oxygen mean?

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French oxygène (originally in the form principe oxygène, a variant of principe oxigine ‘acidifying principle’, suggested by Lavoisier), from Ancient Greek ὀξύς (oxús, “sharp”) + γένος (génos, “birth”), referring to oxygen's supposed role in the formation of acids. By surface analysis, oxy- +‎ -gen.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ŏk'sĭjən, IPA^(key): /ˈɒksɪd͡ʒən/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɑksɪd͡ʒən/, /ˈɑksəd͡ʒən/

Noun

oxygen (countable and uncountable, plural oxygens)

2. The chemical element (symbol O) with an atomic number of 8 and relative atomic mass of 15.9994. It is a colorless and odorless gas.

   Hypernym: chalcogen

3. Molecular oxygen (O₂), a colorless, odorless gas at room temperature, also called dioxygen.
4. (medicine) A mixture of oxygen and other gases, administered to a patient to help them breathe.
5. (countable) An atom of this element.
6. (figurative) A condition or environment in which something can thrive.

Synonyms

• sourstuff
• E948 when used as a packaging gas

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• → Burmese: အောက်ဆီဂျင် (aukhcigyang)

Translations

See also

• ozone

References

• Oxygen on the British Royal Society of Chemistry's online periodic table

Danish

Noun

oxygen n (singular definite oxygenet, not used in plural form)

1. oxygen

   Synonym: ilt

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

oxygen (strong nominative masculine singular oxygener, not comparable)

1. (chemistry) oxygenic

   Antonym: anoxygen

   oxygene Photosynthese ― oxygenic photosynthesis

Declension

Related terms

• Oxygen

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from French oxygène.

Noun

oxygen n

1. (rare) oxygen

   Synonyms: syre, syrgas

Usage notes

• The term oxygen is rarely used; it primarily appears on gas tubes and canisters for international standardization, as well as a safety precaution to minimize the risk of confusing syre (“oxygen”) with syra (“acid”).