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hydrogen.

The lightest chemical element (symbol H), with an atomic number of 1 and atomic weight of 1.008.

8 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈhaɪdɹəd͡ʒ(ə)n/Received-Pronunciation/ˈhɑɪdɹəd͡ʒ(ə)n/British, Southern, Standard/ˈhaɪdɹəd͡ʒ(ə)n/Canada, General-American[ˈhaɪ̯d͡ʒɹəd͡ʒən]Canada, General-American
  1. The lightest chemical element (symbol H), with an atomic number of 1 and atomic weight of 1.008.

    uncountable
    Our professor then reminded us that a hydrogen ion is merely a proton, and thus we should think about acid-base theory as we consider this problem further.
  2. The lightest chemical element (symbol H), with an atomic number of 1 and atomic weight of 1.008. An atom of this element.

    countable
    Each carbon of the ring has one hydrogen attached except for the fourth one, which is bonded to a substituent.
  3. Molecular hydrogen (sense 1; symbol H₂), a colourless, odourless and flammable gas at room temperature.

    uncountable
    A large tank of hydrogen constituted most of the bulk of that rocket.
  4. Molecular hydrogen (sense 1; symbol H₂), a colourless, odourless and flammable gas at room temperature. A molecule of this molecular species.

    countable
  5. Synonym of protium (“the lightest and most common isotope of hydrogen (sense 1; symbol H, ¹H, or 11H), as contrasted with deuterium and tritium”).

    uncountable
    Both hydrogen and deuterium are present in every glass of water that you drink, but the amount of deuterium is rather small.
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *wed- Proto-Indo-European *-r̥ Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥ Proto-Hellenic *údōr Ancient Greek ῡ̆̔́δωρ (hū̆́dōr) Ancient Greek ὑδρο- (hudro-)lbor. French hydro- Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os Proto-Hellenic *génos Ancient Greek γένος (génos) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ēs Proto-Hellenic *-ēs Ancient Greek -ης (-ēs) Ancient Greek -γενής (-genḗs)lbor. French -gène French hydrogènebor. English hydrogen Borrowed from French hydrogène (“hydrogen”), coined by the French chemists Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau (1737–1816) and Antoine Lavoisier (1743–1794) from hydro- (prefix meaning ‘water’) + -gène (suffix denoting a producer of something), from the fact that water is produced as a compound when hydrogen is oxidized. * The prefix hydro- is borrowed from Ancient Greek ῠ̔δρο- (hŭdro-), from ῡ̆̔́δωρ (hū̆́dōr, “water”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“water”). * The suffix -gène is borrowed from Ancient Greek -γενής (-genḗs, suffix meaning ‘born in a certain condition or place’), from γένος (génos, “descendant, offspring; race; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget, produce; to give birth”)) + -ης (-ēs, suffix forming some third-declension adjectives). By surface analysis, hydro- (prefix meaning ‘water’) + -gen (suffix denoting a producer of something).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.