sulfate
/ˈsʌlfeɪt/noun, verb
sulfate is spelled S-U-L-F-A-T-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,651st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “sulfate vs sulphate” about 210 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, sulfate means “Any salt or ester of sulfuric acid” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sulfate is sulfates.
How many letters and syllables are in sulfate?
| Letters | 7: S-U-L-F-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 22,651st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is sulfate?
Sulfate appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,651st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce sulfate?
- /ˈsʌlfeɪt/
Sulfate has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-sulfate.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-sulphate.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with sulfate
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: sulphate.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of sulfate
- sulfates plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- sulfating participle, present
- sulfated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sulfate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any salt or ester of sulfuric acid.
verb
- 1
USTo treat something with sulfuric acid, a sulfate, or with sulfur dioxide.
- 2
To accumulate a deposit of lead sulfate.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sulfate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does sulfate come from?
From French sulfate, from New Latin sulphatum, taken from the expression acidum sulphatum (“sulfuric acid”), from sulphatus, from Latin sulphur (“sulfur”). The term was first used in 1787 by the French chemist L. B. G. De Morveau. Equivalent to sulf(ur) + -ate (“salt or ester”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).