phosphate

[fos-feyt]

noun

Chemistry.
1. (loosely) a salt or ester of phosphoric acid.
2. 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.

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. 2018

Examples from the Web for phosphate

Contemporary Examples of phosphate

Until a year ago, phosphate mining had left gashes up to dozens of meters deep here.
Protecting Nature, Ignoring International Law
Emily L. Hauser
March 29, 2013

Historical Examples of phosphate

After the phosphate is reduced to powder, it is mixed with acid.
Manures and the principles of manuring
Charles Morton Aikman
What the birds required was phosphate of lime, and the bones gave them that.
The Land of the Kangaroo
Thomas Wallace Knox
Maybe it was only the name of a man, or a grass, or a sort of phosphate.
Old Junk
H. M. Tomlinson
If the phosphate of lime in the manure, containing 40 per cent.
The Stock-Feeder's Manual
Charles Alexander Cameron
On the other hand, there are phosphate compounds that act as poisons.
Smithsonian Institution - United States National Museum - Bulletin 240
Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for phosphate

phosphate

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

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

phosphate in Medicine