| 释义 |
phosphorus|ˈfɒsfərəs|
Also 7–8 -os.
[a. L. phōsphorus the morning star (Mart.), a. Gr. ϕωσϕόρος adj. (f. ϕῶς light + -ϕόρος bringing); hence as n. (sc. ἀστήρ) the morning star. Sense 2 was taken independently from the Gr. adj., and thence sense 3.]
I.
1. (with capital P): The morning star: = phosphor 1. Also fig. Now rare.
1629T. Adams Medit. Creed Wks. (1630) 1209 John Baptist was that Phosphorus or Morning Starre, to signifie the Sunnes approching. 1676G. Towerson Decalogue 7 Though it be not the sun, yet it is the Phosphorus to it. 1694Congreve Double Dealer ii. i, He wants nothing but a blue ribbon and a star to make him shine the very phosphorus of our human sphere. 1715M. Davies Athen. Brit. I. 39 Throughout the whole Protestant Reformation, whereof he [Erasmus] was the brightest Phosphoros. 1878Newcomb Pop. Astron. iii. iii. 290 It [Venus] was known to the ancients by the names of Hesperus and Phosphorus.
2. Any substance or organism that phosphoresces or shines of itself (naturally, or when heated, etc.); esp. (in later use) a substance that absorbs sunlight, and shines in the dark. Pl. † phosphoruses, † -'s, phosphori. Now rare.
Baldwin's phosphorus, calcium nitrate that has been strongly heated: discovered by Baldwin in 1674. Bolognian phosphorus or Bononian phosphorus, Montalbano's phosphorus, barium sulphide or heavy spar from Monte Paterno, which becomes phosphorescent by calcination; its property was discovered in 1602 by Casciolorus, a shoemaker of Bologna. Canton's phosphorus, calcium sulphide that has been strongly heated; its phosphorescence was discovered by Marggraf in 1750, who obtained it by calcining gypsum with combustible matter; Canton prepared it in 1768 by igniting oyster shells with sulphur. Homberg's phosphorus, calcium chloride that has been fused; its property was discovered by Homberg in 1693. mercurial phosphorus: see quot. 1710.
1645Evelyn Diary May, Dr. Montalbano..he who invented or found out the composition of the lapis illuminabilis, or phosphorus. He shew'd me their property..being to retain the light of the sun for some competent time, by a kind of imbibition, by a particular way of calcination. 1680Boyle Aerial Noctiluca Wks. 1772 IV. 380 Phosphoruses may well be distinguished into two sorts; those that may be stiled natural, as glow-worms, some sorts of rotten wood and fishes..and those that are properly artificial. 1705Hauksbee in Phil. Trans. XXIV. 2129 Several Experiments on the Mercurial Phosphorus, made before the Royal Society. 1710J. Harris Lex. Techn. II, Mercurial Phosphorus, is a Light arising from the shaking of Mercury in Vacuo. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v., Natural Phosphori are matters which become luminous at certain times. 1753― Cycl. Supp. s.v., There is a vast variety of phosphori in the animal kingdom. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) IV. 406 A kind of amethysts, which may be used as a phosphorus, if laid on a hot stove: and I do not question, but that, with a suitable process, a sort of Bononian stone may be made of them. 1794G. Adams Nat. & Exp. Philos. II. xxi. 396 Phosphori..may be considered as bodies giving light; though more properly they are those bodies which give a faint light, visible only in the dark. 1800Henry Epit. Chem. (1808) 52 Bodies, gifted with this property [of absorbing the rays of light in their totality] are called solar phosphori. 1807T. Thomson Chem. (ed. 3) II. iii. 533 When thus reduced to a submuriate, it has the property of shining in the dark, as Homberg first observed: hence it has been called the phosphorus of Homberg. 1834M. Somerville Connex. Phys. Sc. xxviii. (1849) 326 Sulphuret of calcium, known as Canton's phosphorus. 1866Brande & Cox Dict. Sc. etc. II. 139 Homberg's Phosphorus. 1898Sir W. Crookes Addr. Brit. Assoc. 23 The energy thus absorbed reappears in the form of light, and the body is said to phosphoresce... The best known phosphori belong to certain well-defined classes, such as the sulphides of the alkaline-earthy metals, and some of the so-called rare earths.
3. Chem. One of the non-metallic elements, a yellowish translucent substance resembling wax, widely distributed in nature in combination with other elements; it is extremely inflammable, undergoing slow combustion at ordinary temperatures, and hence appearing luminous in the dark. (Chemical symbol P.)
Accidentally obtained from urine in 1669 by Brandt, an alchemist of Hamburg, in the course of his search for the philosophers' stone. He communicated his discovery and method of obtaining it to the chemist Kunkel; hence the early name Kunkel's phosphorus, the substance being classed with the phosphorescent bodies in sense 2. The method of its production was not made public till 1737. About 1750 it began to be named phosphorus par excellence.
1680Boyle Aerial Noctiluca Wks. 1772 IV. 381 This substance [shown by Mr. Daniel Kraft, a German chemist]..was at least as yielding as bees-wax in summer... On the score of its uninterrupted action, it is called by some in Germany, the constant noctiluca; which title it does not ill deserve, since this phosphorus is much the noblest we have yet seen. 1681Phil. Trans. XII. 9 Concerning the Noctiluca or Phosphoros of Dr. Kunkelius. 1685Evelyn Diary 10 Dec., This matter or phosphorus was made out of human blood and urine, elucidating the vital flame or heate in animal bodys. 1758Reid tr. Macquer's Chem. I. 34 From the Marine Acid combined with a Phlogiston results a kind of Sulphur..that..takes fire of itself upon being exposed to the open air. This combination is called English Phosphorus, Phosphorus of Urine, because it is generally prepared from urine, or, only Phosphorus. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VIII. 175 In the dark they send forth a kind of shining light resembling that of phosphorus. [1787De Morveau Nomencl. Chimique 131 Nom ancien, Phosphore de Kunkel: Nom nouveau Phosphore.] 1799Med. Jrnl. I. 173 Sulphur and phosphorus merely attract oxygen; they form in this combination peculiar acids, and thereby disengage..heat and light which appear in the form of flame. 1827E. Turner Elem. Chem. ii. 224 It is remarkable that the slow combustion of phosphorus does not take place in pure oxygen, unless its temperature be about 80°F. 1855Bain Senses & Int. i. ii. § 2 Phosphorus abounds more in the brain than in any other tissue. 1866Brande & Cox Dict. Sc. etc. II. 890/2 As a result of exposure to heat or light, phosphorus sometimes acquires a red colour, and this red substance is allotropic or amorphous phosphorus. Schrötter made the discovery of this variety of phosphorus in 1848. 1876J. S. Bristowe The. & Pract. Med. (1878) 529 Fatty degeneration..is sometimes observed..in poisoning by phosphorus.
4. attrib. and Comb., as phosphorus cachexia, phosphorus liver, phosphorus matches, phosphorus poison, phosphorus poisoning; in Chem. = of phosphorus, as phosphorus oxychloride, phosphorus pentachloride, phosphorus trichloride, phosphorus trihydride; phosphorus-containing adj.; phosphorus-bottle, † (a) a bottle containing phosphorus, used for igniting sulphur matches; (b) a bottle containing a small quantity of phosphorus dissolved in olive oil, which emits light on being uncorked in the dark; † phosphorus box, a box containing matches tipped with chlorate of potash, with phosphorus on which to ignite them; † phosphorus-lamp = phosphorus-bottle b; phosphorus necrosis, gangrene of some part of the jaw-bone, due to the fumes of phosphorus, a disease affecting persons engaged in the manufacture of lucifer matches; phosphorus paste, a paste containing phosphorus, used to kill vermin.
1814Chron. in Ann. Reg. 324 Brimstoned matches, and *phosphorus boxes were fireworks. 1881G. W. Cable Mme. Delphine xi. 62 She softly laid the phosphorus-box out of her hands.
1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 930 So long as profound *phosphorus cachexia remains.
1896Ibid. I. 165 Certain *phosphorus-containing substances in the body.
1869Roscoe Elem. Chem. 118 Acting upon *phosphorus iodide with water.
1899J. Cagney tr. Jaksch's Clin. Diagn. vii. (ed. 4) 396 The typical *phosphorus-liver leads to alimentary glycosuria.
1898Westm. Gaz. 16 July 3/3 If the manufacture of yellow *phosphorus matches can be proved to be fatal, nay, even injurious to human life,..then let the Government take action.
Ibid. 3 June 4/3 Forty-seven cases of *phosphorus necrosis have developed among our workpeople.
1860Ure Dict. Arts (ed. 5) III. 439 *Phosphorus paste, for the destruction of rats and mice.
1873Watts Fownes' Chem. (ed. 11) 227 *Phosphorus Pentachloride or Phosphoric Chloride, is formed when phosphorus is burned in excess of chlorine.
1878T. Bryant Pract. Surg. I. 539 Necrosis of the jaws, as a result of the *phosphorus poison, is now rarely seen. 1897Westm. Gaz. 24 Mar. 9/2 Death was due to phosphorus poison.
1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 923 In Pardieu's second form of *phosphorus poisoning the symptoms are referable from the outset to the nervous system.
1873Watts Fownes' Chem. (ed. 11) 225 *Phosphorus Trihydride is analogous in some of its chemical relations to ammoniacal gas. |