Science & TechnologyGreek → English
Hydroxide
/haɪˈdrɒksaɪd/noun
A compound containing the OH group, such as the caustic soda in drain cleaner.
The Greek roots
ὕδωρ
hýdōr
water
ὀξύς
oxýs
sharp, acid
Literally: “water-and-acid compound”
The story of the word
The word is built from the names of two gases, both coined in French in the 1780s. Hydrogen means water-former, which is true. Oxygen means acid-former, which is not: Lavoisier believed every acid contained it, and by the time chemists proved him wrong the name was fixed in every European language.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
hydrogenoxygenhydrateoxidehydraulic
In a sentence
Sodium hydroxide will burn skin, so the label carries a corrosive symbol.
The reaction leaves a hydroxide precipitate at the bottom of the flask.