Phlogiston
[flәu'dʒistәn]
Definition
(noun.) a hypothetical substance once believed to be present in all combustible materials and to be released during burning.
Inputed by Leila--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The hypothetical principle of fire, or inflammability, regarded by Stahl as a chemical element.
Inputed by Ethel
Definition
n. an imaginary element believed in till nearly the end of the 18th century as forming part of every combustible body which by its disengagement caused burning or fire in action.—adj. Phlogis′tic (chem.) containing or resembling phlogiston: inflaming: (med.) inflammatory.—v.t. Phlogis′ticate to combine phlogiston with.
Inputed by Gustav
Examples
- Watt and his contemporaries regarded heat as a material substance called Phlogiston. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- These discoveries were made by Scheele in his endeavours to find in light the source of phlogiston--that _ignis fatuus_ of the chemists of the last century. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
Inputed by Alan