Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SUL'PHUR, n. [L., whence Fr. soufre; It. zolfo; Sp. azufre; Port. enxofre; D. solfer.]

A simple mineral substance, of a yellow color, brittle, insoluble in water, but fusible by heat. It is called also brimstone, that is, burn-stone, from its great combustibility. It burns with a blue flame and a peculiar suffocating odor. Sulphur native or prismatic is of two kinds, common and volcanic. It is an acidifying and basifying principle. – Nicholson. Ure.