adj · noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
UK:/ɑː(ɹ)ˈsɛnɪk/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US:är-sĕnʹĭk
US:/ɑɹˈsɛnɪk/
General-American:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
UK:/ˈɑː(ɹ).sə.nɪk/
US:ärʹsən-ĭk
US:/ˈɑɹsənɪk/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:AA1 R S AH0 N IH0 K
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Of or containing arsenic with a valence of 5.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A toxic grey brittle nonmetallic chemical element (symbol As) with an atomic number of 33.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A single atom of this element.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
Arsenic trioxide.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
a very poisonous metallic element that has three allotropic forms; arsenic and arsenic compounds are used as herbicides and insecticides and various alloys; found in arsenopyrite and orpiment and realgar
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: As, atomic number 33
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: chemical element, element
6
noun
Meaning 6
a white powdered poisonous trioxide of arsenic; used in manufacturing glass and as a pesticide (rat poison) and weed killer
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: arsenic trioxide, arsenous anhydride, arsenous oxide, white arsenic, ratsbane
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: trioxide
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵhelh3- Proto-Indo-European *ǵhl̥h3enyomder. Proto-Indo-Iranian *ȷ́hr̥Hanyam Proto-Iranian *jr̥Hanyam Old Median *zaranyam Old Median *kā Old Median *zaraniyakāder. Middle Persian *zarnīkbor. Classical Syriac ܙܪܢܝܟܐ (zarnīḵā)der. Arabic الزَرْنِيخ (az-zarnīḵ)bor. Byzantine Greek ἀρσενικόν (arsenikón)der. Latin arsenicumder. Middle French arsenicbor. Middle English arsenik English arsenic From Middle English arsenik, borrowed from Middle French arsenic, from Latin arsenicum, from Ancient Greek ἀρσενικόν (arsenikón, “yellow arsenic”) (influenced by ἀρσενικός (arsenikós, “potent, virile”)), from Semitic (compare Classical Syriac ܙܪܢܝܟܐ (zarnīḵā), Aramaic 𐡆𐡓𐡍𐡉𐡊𐡀 (zrnykʾ /zarnīḵā/)), from Middle Iranian *zarnīk (compare Persian زرنیخ (zirnīx /zernix, zarnīx /zarnix, “arsenic”), زرنی (zurnī /zorni), Bakhtiari زرنیق (zarniq)), from Old Median *zaraniyakā (compare Avestan 𐬰𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬀 (zaraniia, “golden”), Old Persian 𐎭𐎼𐎴𐎡𐎹 (d-r-n-i-y /daraniya-/, “gold”), Sanskrit हिरण्य (híraṇya, “gold”), Persian زر (zar, “gold”)), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵhelh3-. More at yellow.
Across languages
Translations
144 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
арсенов
(arsenov)
— of, or containing arsenic with a valence of 5
Italian:
arsinico
— of, or containing arsenic with a valence of 5
Manx:
arsnagh
— of, or containing arsenic with a valence of 5
Polish:
arsenowy
— of, or containing arsenic with a valence of 5
Brazilian Portuguese:
arsênico
— of, or containing arsenic with a valence of 5
European Portuguese:
arsénico
— of, or containing arsenic with a valence of 5
Afrikaans:
arseen
— chemical element
Albanian:
rëzëgojë
— chemical element
Arabic:
زِرْنِيخ m or زَرْنِيخ
(zirnīḵ)
— chemical element
Armenian:
արսեն
(arsen)
— chemical element
Armenian:
մկնդեղ
(mkndeġ)
— chemical element
Armenian:
զառիկ
(zaṙik)
— chemical element
Asturian:
arsénicu
— chemical element
Azerbaijani:
arsen
— chemical element
Basque:
artseniko
— chemical element
Belarusian:
мыш'я́к
(myšʺják)
— chemical element
Belarusian:
аршэннік
(aršeńnik)
— chemical element
Bengali:
আর্সেনিক
(arśenik)
— chemical element
Breton:
arsenik
— chemical element
Bulgarian:
арсе́н
(arsén)
— chemical element
Burmese:
စိန်ဖြူ
(cinhpru)
— chemical element
Burmese:
စိန်
(cin)
— chemical element
Catalan:
arsènic
— chemical element
Chinese Mandarin:
砷
(shēn)
— chemical element
Chinese Mandarin:
砒
(pī)
— chemical element
Cornish:
arsenik
— chemical element
Cornish:
arsenyk
— chemical element
Czech:
arzen
— chemical element
Danish:
arsen
— chemical element
Dutch:
arseen
— chemical element
Dutch:
arsenicum
— chemical element
Esperanto:
arseno
— chemical element
Estonian:
arseen
— chemical element
Faroese:
arsenikk
— chemical element
Finnish:
arseeni
— chemical element
French:
arsenic
— chemical element
West-Frisian:
arsenikum
— chemical element
Friulian:
arsenic
— chemical element
Galician:
arsénico
— chemical element
Georgian:
დარიშხანი
(darišxani)
— chemical element
German:
Arsen
— chemical element
Greek:
αρσενικό
(arsenikó)
— chemical element
Hebrew:
אַרְסֶן
(arsén)
— chemical element
Hebrew:
זַרְנִיךְ
(zarních)
— chemical element
Hindi:
नैपाली
(naipālī)
— chemical element
Hindi:
आर्सेनिक
(ārsenik)
— chemical element
Hindi:
हरताल
(hartāl)
— chemical element
Hungarian:
arzén
— chemical element
Icelandic:
arsen
— chemical element
Ilocano:
basikut
— chemical element
Interlingua:
arsenico
— chemical element
Irish:
airsnic
— chemical element
Irish:
arsnaig
— chemical element
Irish:
arsanaic
— chemical element
Italian:
arsenico
— chemical element
Japanese:
ヒ素
(hiso)
— chemical element
Japanese:
砒素
(hiso)
— chemical element
Kashubian:
arszelnik
— chemical element
Kazakh:
күшән
(küşän)
— chemical element
Khmer:
អាសេនិក
(ʼaaseenɨk)
— chemical element
Korean:
비소
(biso)
— chemical element
Central Kurdish:
دارو
(daru)
— chemical element
Kyrgyz:
мышьяк
(mışyak)
— chemical element
Lao:
ສານຫມູ
(sān mū)
— chemical element
Lao:
ສານຫນູ
(sān nū)
— chemical element
Latin:
arsenicum
— chemical element
Latvian:
arsēns
— chemical element
Lingala:
aseni class 9a/10a
— chemical element
Lithuanian:
arsenas
— chemical element
Luxembourgish:
Arsen
— chemical element
Macedonian:
арсен
(arsen)
— chemical element
Malay:
arsenik
— chemical element
Malay:
arsen
— chemical element
Maltese:
arseniku
— chemical element
Manx:
arsnick
— chemical element
Mongolian:
хүнцэл
(xüncel)
— chemical element
Norman:
arsénîn
— chemical element
Norwegian Bokmål:
arsen
— chemical element
Norwegian Nynorsk:
arsen
— chemical element
Occitan:
arsenic
— chemical element
Persian:
آرسنیک
(ârsenik)
— chemical element
Persian:
زرنیخ
(zarnix)
— chemical element
Persian:
زرنیک
(zarnik)
— chemical element
Persian:
زرنی
(zarni)
— chemical element
Persian:
مرگ موش
(marg-e muš)
— chemical element
Polish:
arsen
— chemical element
Brazilian Portuguese:
arsênio
— chemical element
European Portuguese:
arsénio
— chemical element
Punjabi:
ਸੰਖੀਆ
(saṅkhīā)
— chemical element
Punjabi:
ਅਰਸਨਿਕ
(arasnik)
— chemical element
Romanian:
arsen
— chemical element
Russian:
мышья́к
(myšʹják)
— chemical element
Russian:
арсе́никум
(arsénikum)
— chemical element
Scottish Gaelic:
arsnaig
— chemical element
Serbo-Croatian:
а̀рсе̄н
— chemical element
Serbo-Croatian:
àrsēn
— chemical element
Slovak:
arzén
— chemical element
Slovene:
arzen
— chemical element
Lower Sorbian:
arsen
— chemical element
Upper Sorbian:
arsen
— chemical element
Spanish:
arsénico
— chemical element
Swahili:
asenia
— chemical element
Swedish:
arsenik
— chemical element
Tagalog:
basikut
— chemical element
Tajik:
арсен
(arsen)
— chemical element
Tamil:
பாசாணம்
(pācāṇam)
— chemical element
Tamil:
பிறாக்காண்டம்
(piṟākkāṇṭam)
— chemical element
Tamil:
அரசன்
(aracaṉ)
— chemical element
Thai:
สารหนู
(sǎan-nǔu)
— chemical element
Thai:
อาร์เซนิก
(aa-see-nìk)
— chemical element
Tibetan:
བ་བླ
(ba bla)
— chemical element
Turkish:
arsenik
— chemical element
Turkish:
sıçanotu
— chemical element
Ottoman Turkish:
صیچان اوتی
(sıçan otu)
— chemical element