selenious acid
- noun
- /səˈliːniəs ˈæsɪd/
- Specialized
- Selenious acid is used as an oxidizing agent in organic chemistry and in glass manufacturing.
Examples
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The chemist prepared a solution of selenious acid for the experiment.
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The laboratory technician prepared a solution of selenious acid for the analysis.
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Exposure to selenious acid should be handled with care due to its toxicity.
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Can you explain the properties of selenious acid?
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Selenious acid is commonly used as a reagent in chemical analysis and reactions.
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The safety data sheet warns that selenious acid should be stored in a cool, ventilated area.
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During the lab experiment, the students carefully measured selenious acid to ensure accurate results.
Synonyms
An acid that contains selenium and people use in labs, sometimes in medicine, and to make glass and pigments
Surface Forms
Morphology
selenious + acid
This is a technical chemical name formed from the element name 'selenium' plus an adjectival suffix and the noun 'acid'. An average B1 learner who only knows the common word 'acid' would not know the rare/formulaic element-base 'selenious' (or the naming convention), so the specific meaning cannot be derived from ordinary vocabulary knowledge. Because understanding it requires specialist lexical or scientific knowledge rather than ordinary compositional inference, it is opaque to B1 learners.
Etymology
The compound selenious acid gets its name from the element selenium, which was named from the Greek word 'selene' meaning 'moon' because early chemists gave it a moon-related name. The ending -ous shows this is the acid form of selenium, so the name tells you it is the acid made from that element.
