oxygen
/ˈɔksɪd͡ʒən/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.25 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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. Sometimes called elemental oxygen to distinguish it from molecular oxygen.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Holonyms: dioxygen, O₂, oxygen (loose sense)"
- "By molar fraction, calcium oxide contains equal parts calcium and oxygen."
- "Meronym: oxygen (strict sense)"
- "About 21% of the air you breathe is oxygen."
- "Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: the ability to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and waste oxygen using solar energy. The evolutionary precursor of photosynthesis is still under debate, and a new study sheds light."
- "Look first at any structure to see if there is a carbon with two oxygens attached. Hemiacetals, hemiketals, acetals, and ketals are all alike in that regard."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ-der.? Ancient Greek ὀξύς (oxús) Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os Proto-Hellenic *génos Ancient Greek γένος (génos) French oxygènebor. English oxygen 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.
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
- Root: oxygène, ὀξύς, *h₂eḱ-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɔksɪd͡ʒən/
- British English: /ˈɒksɪd͡ʒən/