phosphate

[ fos-feyt ]

/ ˈfɒs feɪt /

noun

Chemistry.

(loosely) a salt or ester of phosphoric acid.
a tertiary salt of orthophosphoric acid, as sodium phosphate.

Agriculture. a fertilizing material containing compounds of phosphorus.

a carbonated drink of water and fruit syrup containing a little phosphoric acid.

Nearby words

Origin of phosphate

First recorded in 1785–95; phosph- + -ate²

Related formssub·phos·phate, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for phosphate

I worked here in the phosphate mine until last year, when they started to paying pensions.
Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States|Work Projects Administration
This, however, is not all; for the decomposition of sugar a phosphate is also indispensable.
Alcoholic Fermentation|Arthur Harden
Phosphate powders are less open to objection, as they are more easy to obtain free from lead and other metallic impurities.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 4|Various
The reason why super-phosphate of lime is so much better than phosphate, may be easily explained.
The Elements of Agriculture|George E. Waring

Maybe it was only the name of a man, or a grass, or a sort of phosphate.
Old Junk|H. M. Tomlinson

British Dictionary definitions for phosphate

phosphate

/ (ˈfɒsfeɪt) /

noun

any salt or ester of any phosphoric acid, esp a salt of orthophosphoric acid

(often plural) any of several chemical fertilizers containing phosphorous compounds

Derived Formsphosphatic (fɒsˈfætɪk), adjective

Word Origin for phosphate

C18: from French phosphat; see phosphorus, -ate 1

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 phosphate

phosphate

a salt of phosphoric acid, 1795, from French phosphate (1787), from phosphore (see phosphorus) + -ate (3).

Medicine definitions for phosphate

phosphate

[ fŏs′fāt′ ]

n.

A salt or ester of phosphoric acid.

adj.

Containing the trivalent radical PO4.

Science definitions for phosphate

phosphate

[ fŏs′fāt′ ]

A salt or ester of phosphoric acid, containing the group PO4. Phosphates are important in metabolism and are frequently used in fertilizers.