Phrase guide

sulfur dioxide

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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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A toxic gas, of molecular formula SO2 that is found in the emissions of volcanos and those of burning coal or petroleum; dissolves in water to form sulfurous acid and, in the presence of oxygen, sulfuric acid, and is thus responsible for acid rain.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, uncountable

Topics: chemistry, inorganic-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

a colorless toxic gas (SO2) that occurs in the gases from volcanoes; used in many manufacturing processes and present in industrial emissions; causes acid rain

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sulphur dioxide

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: dioxide, pollutant, gas

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: diòxid de sofre — the compound SO2
  • Chinese Cantonese: 二氧化硫 (ji6 joeng5 faa3 lau4) — the compound SO2
  • Chinese Mandarin: 二氧化硫 (èryǎnghuàliú) — the compound SO2
  • Czech: oxid siřičitý — the compound SO2
  • Dutch: zwaveldioxide — the compound SO2
  • Esperanto: sulfura dioksido — the compound SO2
  • Finnish: rikkidioksidi — the compound SO2
  • French: dioxyde de soufre — the compound SO2
  • Galician: dióxido de xofre — the compound SO2
  • German: Schwefeldioxid — the compound SO2
  • Hindi: गन्धक द्विजारेय (gandhak dvijārey) — the compound SO2
  • Hungarian: kén-dioxid — the compound SO2
  • Icelandic: brennisteinsdíoxið — the compound SO2
  • Icelandic: brennisteinstvíoxíð — the compound SO2
  • Italian: diossido di zolfo — the compound SO2
  • Italian: anidride solforosa — the compound SO2
  • Japanese: 二酸化硫黄 (nisankaiō) — the compound SO2
  • Persian: سولفور دیاکسید — the compound SO2
  • Portuguese: dióxido de enxofre — the compound SO2
  • Russian: двуо́кись се́ры (dvuókisʹ séry) — the compound SO2
  • Russian: диокси́д се́ры (dioksíd séry) — the compound SO2
  • Spanish: dióxido de azufre — the compound SO2
  • Swedish: svaveldioxid — the compound SO2
  • Thai: ซัลเฟอร์ไดออกไซด์ — the compound SO2
  • Turkish: kükürt dioksit — the compound SO2