oxygen
[ok-si-juh n]
- a colorless, odorless, gaseous element constituting about one-fifth of the volume of the atmosphere and present in a combined state in nature. It is the supporter of combustion in air and was the standard of atomic, combining, and molecular weights until 1961, when carbon 12 became the new standard. Symbol: O; atomic weight: 15.9994; atomic number: 8; density: 1.4290 g/l at 0°C and 760 mm pressure.
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Origin of oxygen
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for oxygen
Contemporary Examples
It reacts very readily with oxygen by burning smokelessly, with carbon dioxide and water as its byproducts.
Their decay proceeded without a ready supply of oxygen, producing hydrocarbons like methane instead of oxygen-bearing molecules.
The brain, also an organ, is particularly sensitive to the loss of oxygen.
Neurons begin to die within four to six minutes of oxygen deprivation.
Oxygen levels will be decreased to accommodate fewer people.
Historical Examples
We only know that it destroys the oxygen carrying power of living blood.
City of Endless NightMilo Hastings
"Gas-tight uniforms and our own supplies of oxygen," Blake supplemented.
The only name which suggests itself is oxyzone, a combination of oxygen and ozone.
Poisoned AirSterner St. Paul Meek
However, what odds how you take your carbon and nitrogen and oxygen, as long as you DO get it?
The Stark Munro LettersJ. Stark Munro
Oxygen will combine with iron or lead or sodium, but cannot be made to combine with fluorine.
The Machinery of the UniverseAmos Emerson Dolbear
oxygen
- a colourless odourless highly reactive gaseous element: the most abundant element in the earth's crust (49.2 per cent). It is essential for aerobic respiration and almost all combustion and is widely used in industry. Symbol: O; atomic no: 8; atomic wt: 15.9994; valency: 2; density: 1.429 kg/m³; melting pt: –218.79°C; boiling pt: –182.97°C
- (as modifier)an oxygen mask
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for oxygen
n.
gaseous chemical element, 1790, from French oxygène, coined in 1777 by French chemist Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794), from Greek oxys "sharp, acid" (see acrid) + French -gène "something that produces" (from Greek -genes "formation, creation;" see -gen).
Intended to mean "acidifying (principle)," it was a Greeking of French principe acidifiant. So called because oxygen was then considered essential in the formation of acids (it is now known not to be). The element was isolated by Priestley (1774), who, using the old model of chemistry, called it dephlogisticated air. The downfall of the phlogiston theory required a new name, which Lavoisier provided.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
oxygen
(ŏk′sĭ-jən)- An element constituting 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume that occurs as a diatomic gas, O2, combines with most elements, is essential for plant and animal respiration, and is required for nearly all combustion. Atomic number 8.
- A medicinal gas used therapeutically for oxygen supplementation, containing not less than 99.0 percent, by volume, of O2.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
oxygen
[ŏk′sĭ-jən]
- A nonmetallic element that exists in its free form as a colorless, odorless gas and makes up about 21 percent of the Earth's atmosphere. It is the most abundant element in the Earth's crust and occurs in many compounds, including water, carbon dioxide, and iron ore. Oxygen combines with most elements, is required for combustion, and is essential for life in most organisms. Atomic number 8; atomic weight 15.9994; melting point -218.8°C; boiling point -182.9°C; gas density at 0°C 1.429 grams per liter; valence 2. See Periodic Table.
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Word History: In 1786, the French chemist Antoine Lavoisier coined a term for the element oxygen (oxygène in French). He used Greek words for the coinage: oxy- means sharp, and -gen means producing. Oxygen was called the sharp-producing element because it was thought to be essential for making acids. Lavoisier also coined the name of the element hydrogen, the water-producing element, in 1788. Soon after, in 1791, another French chemist, J. A. Chaptal, introduced the word nitrogen, the niter-producing element, referring to its discovery from an analysis of nitric acid.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
oxygen
Note
When we breathe in oxygen, it is carried by the hemoglobin in our blood throughout the body, where it is used to generate energy by oxidation. (See respiration.)
Note
Oxygen is a waste product of green plants and photosynthesis.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.