phosphite

American

[fos-fahyt] / ˈfɒs faɪt /

noun

Chemistry.

(loosely) a salt of phosphorous acid.

phosphite British

/ ˈfɒsfaɪt /

noun

any salt or ester of phosphorous acid

"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

Etymology

Origin of phosphite

First recorded in 1790–1800; phosph- + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

phosphite

The team found that phosphite, a form of phosphorus naturally found in hydrothermal vents, can react with organic compounds in the presence of palladium and produce reactions associated with metabolic phosphorylation.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

They produced a pure culture of this new bacterial strain, in which they were finally able to identify the key enzyme that triggers the oxidation of phosphite to phosphate.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 10, 2023

The other method is the disproportionation of white phosphorus with hot concentrated base to produce phosphine and the hydrogen phosphite ion:

From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019

Phosphorous acid forms only two series of salts, which contain the dihydrogen phosphite ion, or the hydrogen phosphate ion, respectively.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019

The noticeable difference is because Riddle has elected to inject his trees with syringes filled with phosphite and phosphonate solutions.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 11, 2016

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023