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Webster 1828 Edition


Phlogiston

PHLOGIS'TON

,
Noun.
[Gr. to burn or inflame.]
The principle of inflammability; the matter of fire in composition with other bodies. Stahl gave this name to an element which he supposed to be pure fire fixed in combustible bodies, in order to distinguish it from fire in action or in a state of liberty. But the theory has been proved to be false and is generally abandoned.

Definition 2024


Phlogiston

Phlogiston

See also: phlogiston

German

Noun

Phlogiston n (genitive Phlogistons, no plural)

  1. phlogiston

phlogiston

phlogiston

See also: Phlogiston

English

Noun

phlogiston (usually uncountable, plural phlogistons)

  1. (chemistry, historical) The hypothetical fiery principle formerly assumed to be a necessary constituent of combustible bodies and to be given up by them in burning.
    • 2006, Philip Ball, The Devil's Doctor, Arrow 2007, page 397:
      Stahl argued that phlogiston could explain combustion, a central concern of eighteenth-century chemistry.

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