sulphate

UK: /ˈsʌlfeɪt/

Inflections of 'sulphate' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

sulphates

v 3rd person singular (UK)

sulphating

v pres p (UK)

sulphated

v past (UK)

sulphated

v past p (UK)

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

sulphate / ˈsʌlfeɪt/ noun

1. any salt or ester of sulphuric acid, such as sodium sulphate, Na₂SO₄, sodium hydrogen sulphate, or diethyl sulphate, (C₂H₅)₂SO₄

verb

1. (transitive) to treat with a sulphate or convert into a sulphate
2. to undergo or cause to undergo the formation of a layer of lead sulphate on the plates of an accumulator

Etymology: 18th Century: from New Latin sulfātum; see sulphur

sulˈphation noun

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

sul•fate  (sul′fāt), n., v., -fat•ed, -fat•ing. 
n. 

1. Chemistry a salt or ester of sulfuric acid.

v.t. 

2. Chemistry to combine, treat, or impregnate with sulfuric acid, a sulfate, or sulfates.
3. Chemistry to convert into a sulfate.
4. Electricity to form a deposit of lead-sulfate compound on (the lead electrodes of a storage battery).

v.i. 

5. Chemistry to become sulfated.

• Neo-Latin sulphātum. See sulfur, -ate²
• 1780–90

sul•fa′tion, n.