Phrase guide

litmus paper

noun · 2 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

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1

noun

Meaning 1

paper containing a water-soluble pH indicator composed of a mixture of different dyes extracted from certain lichens. The resulting piece of paper is used to test materials for acidity, turning red when acidic and blue when alkaline.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

unsized paper treated with litmus for use as an acid-base indicator

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: paper

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

27 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: وَرَقَة عَبَّاد اَلشَّمْس (waraqat ʕabbād aš-šams) — Translations
  • Chinese Mandarin: 石蕊試紙 /石蕊试纸 (shíruǐshìzhǐ) — Translations
  • Crimean Tatar: lakmus kâğıtı — Translations
  • Czech: lakmusový papírek — Translations
  • Dutch: lakmoespapier — Translations
  • Dutch: lakmoespapiertje — Translations
  • Finnish: lakmuspaperi — Translations
  • French: papier de tournesol — Translations
  • Georgian: ლაკმუსის ქაღალდი (laḳmusis kaɣaldi) — Translations
  • German: Lackmuspapier — Translations
  • Greek: χαρτί ηλιοτροπίου (chartí iliotropíou) — Translations
  • Hebrew: נְיַיר לַקְמוּס — Translations
  • Hungarian: lakmuszpapír — Translations
  • Italian: cartina tornasole — Translations
  • Japanese: リトマス紙 (ritomasu shi) — Translations
  • Japanese: リトマス試験紙 (ritomasu shikenshi) — Translations
  • Korean: 리트머스 종이 (riteumeoseu jong'i) — Translations
  • Korean: 리트머스 시험지 (riteumeoseu siheomji) — Translations
  • Malay: kertas litmus — Translations
  • Polish: papierek lakmusowy — Translations
  • Portuguese: papel de tornassol — Translations
  • Russian: ла́кмусовая бума́га (lákmusovaja bumága) — Translations
  • Spanish: papel de tornasol — Translations
  • Swedish: lackmuspapper — Translations
  • Tagalog: tornasol — Translations
  • Turkish: turnusol kâğıdı — Translations
  • Vietnamese: giấy quỳ — Translations