Emily Dickinson Lexicon

OX'Y-GEN, n. [Gr. οξυς, acid, and γενναω, to generate.]

In chimistry, an electro-negative basifying and acidifying elementary principle. It is the vital part of the atmosphere and the supporter of ordinary combustion. It was named from its property of generating acids. Modern experiments prove that it is not necessary in all cases to combustion or to acidity. Oxygen is a permanently elastic fluid, inodorous, and a little heavier than atmospheric air. In union with azote or nitrogen, it forms atmospheric air, of which it constitutes about a fifth part. Water contains about 89 per cent of it, and it exists in most vegetable and animal products, acids, salts and oxyds.