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oxygen.

The chemical element (symbol O) with an atomic number of 8 and relative atomic mass of 15.9994. It is a colorless and odorless gas. Sometimes called elemental oxygen to distinguish it from molecular oxygen.

6 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈɒksɪd͡ʒən/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɔksɪd͡ʒən/Australia, British, Scotland, Southern, Standard/ˈɑksɪd͡ʒən/Atlantic-Canada, General-American/ˈɑksəd͡ʒən/Atlantic-Canada, General-American
  1. The chemical element (symbol O) with an atomic number of 8 and relative atomic mass of 15.9994. It is a colorless and odorless gas. Sometimes called elemental oxygen to distinguish it from molecular oxygen.

    countable · uncountable
    By molar fraction, calcium oxide contains equal parts calcium and oxygen.
  2. Molecular oxygen (O₂), a colorless, odorless gas at room temperature.

    countable · uncountable
    About 21% of the air you breathe is oxygen.
  3. A mixture of oxygen and other gases, administered to a patient to help them breathe.

    countable · uncountable
  4. An atom of this element.

    countable
  5. A condition or environment in which something can thrive.

    countable · figuratively · uncountable
    Silence is the oxygen of shame.
    They hoped to starve the terrorists of the oxygen of publicity.
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ-der.? Ancient Greek ὀξύς (oxús) Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os Proto-Hellenic *génos Ancient Greek γένος (génos) French oxygènebor. English oxygen Borrowed from French oxygène (originally in the form principe oxygène, a variant of principe oxigine ‘acidifying principle’, suggested by Lavoisier), from Ancient Greek ὀξύς (oxús, “sharp”) + γένος (génos, “birth”), referring to oxygen's supposed role in the formation of acids. By surface analysis, oxy- + -gen.

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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.