What is "phosphorus"

Phosphorus \Phos"phor*us\ (f[o^]s"f[o^]r*[u^]s), n.; pl. Phosphori (f[o^]s"f[o^]r*[imac]). [L., the morning star, Gr. fwsfo`ros, lit., light bringer; fw^s light + fe`rein to bring.]

1. The morning star; Phosphor.

2. (Chem.) A poisonous nonmetallic element of the nitrogen group, obtained as a white, or yellowish, translucent waxy substance, having a characteristic disagreeable smell; this waxy allotropic form is also called yellow phosphorus, to distinguish it from another allotropic form, red phosphorus. It is very active chemically, must be preserved under water, and unites with oxygen even at ordinary temperatures, giving a faint glow, -- whence its name. It always occurs combined, usually in phosphates, as in the mineral apatite, in bones, etc. It is used in the composition on the tips of friction matches, and for many other purposes. The molecule contains four atoms. Symbol P. Atomic weight 31.0.

3. (Chem.) Hence, any substance which shines in the dark like phosphorus, as certain phosphorescent bodies.

   Bologna phosphorus (Chem.), sulphide of barium, which shines in the dark after exposure to light; -- so called because this property was discovered by a resident of Bologna. The term is sometimes applied to other compounds having similar properties.

   Metallic phosphorus (Chem.), an allotropic modification of phosphorus, obtained as a gray metallic crystalline substance, having very inert chemical properties. It is obtained by heating ordinary phosphorus in a closed vessel at a high temperature.

   Phosphorus disease (Med.), a disease common among workers in phosphorus, giving rise to necrosis of the jawbone, and other symptoms.

   Red phosphorus, or Amorphous phosphorus (Chem.), an allotropic modification of phosphorus, obtained as a dark red powder by heating ordinary phosphorus in closed vessels. It is not poisonous, is not phosphorescent, and is only moderately active chemically. It is valuable as a chemical reagent, and is used in the composition of the friction surface on which safety matches are ignited.

   Solar phosphori (Chem.), phosphorescent substances which shine in the dark after exposure to the sunlight or other intense light.

   yellow phosphorus (Chem.), the waxy yellow allotropic form of elemental phosphorus. See also phosphorus[2].

"substance or organism that shines of itself," 1640s, from Latin phosphorus "light-bringing," also "the morning star" (a sense attested in English from 1620), from Greek Phosphoros "morning star," literally "torchbearer," from phos "light," contraction of phaos "light, daylight" (related to phainein "to show, to bring to light;" see phantasm) + phoros "bearer," from pherein "to carry" (see infer).\n

\nAs the name of a non-metallic chemical element, it is recorded from 1680, originally one among several substances so called; the word used exclusively of the element from c.1750. It was discovered in 1669 by Henning Brand, merchant and alchemist of Hamburg, who derived it from urine. Lavoisier demonstrated it was an element in 1777. According to Flood, "It is the first element whose discoverer is known."

n. 1 (context chemistry English) a chemical element (''symbol'' P) with an atomic number of 15, that exists in several allotropic forms. 2 (context obsolete English) any substance exhibiting phosphorescence; a phosphor

1. n. a multivalent nonmetallic element of the nitrogen family that occurs commonly in inorganic phosphate rocks and as organic phosphates in all living cells; is highly reactive and occurs in several allotropic forms [syn: P, atomic number 15]

2. a planet (usually Venus) seen just before sunrise in the eastern sky [syn: morning star, daystar]

Phosphorus is a chemical element.

Phosphorus may refer to:

• Doctor Phosphorus, a Batman villain
• Phosphorus (band), an Italian trip-hop band of the 1990s
• Phosphorus (morning star), the Greek name of the morning star

Phosphorus (1834 – after 1843) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In his British career he ran three times and won two races. His most significant win came when he overcame a leg injury to win the 1837 Epsom Derby. Phosphorus was later sold and exported to Brunswick, but was unable to reproduce his English form. He was unsuccessful as a stallion.

Phosphorus is a genus of longhorn beetles of the subfamily Lamiinae, containing the following species:

• Phosphorus virescens (Olivier, 1795)
• Phosphorus unicolor Aurivillius, 1913

Phosphorus is a chemical element with symbol P and atomic number 15. As an element, phosphorus exists in two major forms— white phosphorus and red phosphorus—but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Earth. With few exceptions, minerals containing phosphorus are in the maximally oxidised state as inorganic phosphate rocks.

The first form of elemental phosphorus to be produced (white phosphorus, in 1669) emits a faint glow when exposed to oxygen – hence the name, taken from Greek mythology, meaning "light-bearer" (Latin Lucifer), referring to the " Morning Star", the planet Venus (or Mercury). The term " phosphorescence", meaning glow after illumination, originally derives from this property of phosphorus, although this word has since been used for a different physical process that produces a glow. The glow of phosphorus itself originates from oxidation of the white (but not red) phosphorus — a process now termed chemiluminescence. Together with nitrogen, arsenic, and antimony, phosphorus is classified as a pnictogen.

Phosphorus is essential for life. Phosphates (compounds containing the phosphate ion, PO) are a component of DNA, RNA, ATP, and the phospholipids, which form all cell membranes. Demonstrating the link between phosphorus and life, elemental phosphorus was first isolated from human urine, and bone ash was an important early phosphate source. Phosphate minerals are fossils. Low phosphate levels are an important limit to growth in some aquatic systems. The vast majority of phosphorus compounds produced are consumed as fertilisers. Phosphate is needed to replace the phosphorus that plants remove from the soil, and its annual demand is rising nearly twice as fast as the growth of the human population. Other applications include the role of organophosphorus compounds in detergents, pesticides, and nerve agents. At 0.099%, phosphorus is the most abundant pnictogen in the Earth's crust.

Phosphorus ( Greek Phōsphoros) is the Morning Star, the planet Venus in its morning appearance. Φαοσφόρος (Phaosphoros) and Φαεσφόρος (Phaesphoros) are forms of the same name in some Greek dialects.

Another Greek name for the Morning Star is Heosphoros ( Greek Heōsphoros), meaning "Dawn-Bringer". The form Eosphorus is sometimes met in English, as if from Ἠωσφόρος (Ēōsphoros), which is not actually found in Greek literature, but would be the form that Ἑωσφόρος would have in some dialects. As an adjective, the Greek word φωσφόρος is applied in the sense of "light-bringing" to, for instance, the dawn, the god Dionysos, pine torches, the day; and in the sense of "torch-bearing" as an epithet of several god and goddesses, especially Hecate but also of Artemis/ Diana and Hephaestus.

The Latin word lucifer, corresponding to Greek φωσφόρος, was used as a name for the morning star and thus appeared in the Vulgate translation of the Hebrew word הֵילֵל (helel), meaning Venus as the brilliant, bright or shining one, in , where the Septuagint Greek version uses, not φωσφόρος, but ἑωσφόρος. As a translation of the same Hebrew word the King James Version gave "Lucifer", a name often understood as a reference to Satan. Modern translations of the same passage render the Hebrew word instead as "morning star", "daystar", "shining one" or "shining star". In , Jesus is referred to as the morning star, but not as lucifer in Latin, nor as φωσφόρος in the original Greek text, which instead has ὁ ἀστὴρ ὁ λαμπρὸς ὁ πρωϊνός (ho astēr ho lampros ho prōinos), literally: the star, the shining one, the dawn. In the Vulgate Latin text of the word "lucifer" is used of the morning star in the phrase "until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts", the corresponding Greek word being φωσφόρος.