Standard Lemma guide

chloroform

noun · verb · 4 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.

  • /ˈklɒɹə(ʊ)ˌfɔː(ɹ)m/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)m
  • CMU ARPABET: K L AO1 R AH0 F AO2 R M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A halogenated hydrocarbon, trichloromethane, CHCl3; it is a volatile, sweet-smelling liquid, used extensively as a solvent and formerly as an anesthetic.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, organic-chemistry, physical-sciences

Examples

  • Some assume that chloroform is a gas because it was given by inhalation.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: trichloromethane, Guthrie's sweet whiskey, sweet whiskey

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: haloform, trihalomethane, substance, compound, material

2

verb

Meaning 2

To treat, or to render unconscious, with chloroform.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a volatile liquid haloform (CHCl3); formerly used as an anesthetic

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • chloroform was the first inhalation anesthetic

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: trichloromethane

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: inhalation anesthetic, inhalation anaesthetic, inhalation general anesthetic, inhalation general anaesthetic, haloform

4

verb

Meaning 4

anesthetize with chloroform

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Doctors used to put people under by chloroforming them

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: anesthetize, anaesthetize, anesthetise, anaesthetise, put under, put out

History

Etymology

Borrowed from French chloroforme, portmanteau of terchloride (tertiary chloride, trichloride) and formyle (CH, an obsolete radical of formic acid) by Jean-Baptiste Dumas, from 1834. By surface analysis, chloro- + -form.

Across languages

Translations

51 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: chloroform — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Arabic: كْلُورُوفُورْم (klurufūrm) — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Basque: kloroformo — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Bulgarian: хлороформ (hloroform) — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Catalan: cloroform — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Chinese Cantonese: 氯仿 (luk6 fong2) — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Chinese Mandarin: 氯仿 (lǜfǎng) — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Chinese Mandarin: 哥羅仿 /哥罗仿 (gēluófǎng) — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Czech: chloroform — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Danish: kloroform — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Dutch: chloroform — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Esperanto: kloroformo — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Finnish: kloroformi — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • French: chloroforme — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Galician: cloroformo — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • German: Chloroform — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Greek: χλωροφόρμιο (chlorofórmio) — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Hindi: क्लोरोफार्म (klorophārm) — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Hungarian: kloroform — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Icelandic: klóróform — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Italian: cloroformio — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Japanese: クロロホルム (kurorohorumu) — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Korean: 클로로포름 (keulloroporeum) — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Latin: chloroformium chloroformum — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Māori: kororohama — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Polish: chloroform — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Portuguese: clorofórmio — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Romanian: cloroform — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Russian: хлорофо́рм (xlorofórm) — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Scots: chloroform — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Serbo-Croatian: кло̏роформ — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Serbo-Croatian: хло̏роформ — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Serbo-Croatian: klȍroform — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Serbo-Croatian: hloroform — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Slovene: klorofórm — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Spanish: cloroformo — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Swedish: kloroform — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Tagalog: kloropormo — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Thai: คลอโรฟอร์ม (klɔɔ-roo-fɔɔm) — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Turkish: kloroform — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Ottoman Turkish: قلوروفورم — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Ukrainian: хлорофо́рм (xlorofórm) — (chemistry) an anesthetic
  • Finnish: nukuttaa kloloformilla — to treat with chloroform, or to render unconscious with chloroform
  • Finnish: tainnuttaa kloloformilla — to treat with chloroform, or to render unconscious with chloroform
  • French: chloroformer — to treat with chloroform, or to render unconscious with chloroform
  • Galician: cloroformizar — to treat with chloroform, or to render unconscious with chloroform
  • Hungarian: kloroformoz — to treat with chloroform, or to render unconscious with chloroform
  • Hungarian: kloroformmal elaltat — to treat with chloroform, or to render unconscious with chloroform
  • Italian: cloroformizzare — to treat with chloroform, or to render unconscious with chloroform
  • Polish: chloroformować — to treat with chloroform, or to render unconscious with chloroform
  • Spanish: cloroformizar — to treat with chloroform, or to render unconscious with chloroform