phlogistic

American  

[floh-jis-tik] / floʊˈdʒɪs tɪk /

adjective

1. Pathology. inflammatory.

2. pertaining to or consisting of phlogiston.

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phlogistic British  

/ flɒˈdʒɪstɪk /

adjective

1. pathol of inflammation; inflammatory

2. chem of, concerned with, or containing phlogiston

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Other Word Forms

• postphlogistic adjective

Etymology

Origin of phlogistic

1725–35; < Greek phlogist ( ós ) inflammable (verbid of phlogízein to set on fire; akin to phlox, phlegm ) + -ic

Example Sentences

He then states the phlogistic interpretation of these phenomena: that combustion is caused by the outrush from the burning body of a something called the principle of fire, or phlogiston.

From Heroes of Science Chemists by Muir, M. M. Pattison (Matthew Moncrieff Pattison)

For in phlogistic, as in other things, we cauterize our neighbour's digits, but burn our own fingers.

From The Cloister and the Hearth A Tale of the Middle Ages by Reade, Charles

Whatever will unite with pure air, and thence compose an acid, is esteemed in this ingenious theory to be a different kind of phlogistic or inflammable body.

From The Botanic Garden A Poem in Two Parts. Part 1: the Economy of Vegetation by Darwin, Erasmus

The phlogistic theory of the processes of calcination and combustion necessitated the view that many acids, such as those produced by combustion, e.g. sulphurous, phosphoric, carbonic, &c., should be regarded as elementary substances.

From The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia Volume 1 of 28 by Project Gutenberg

Mr. Cavendish has since demonstrated that two parts of vital air or oxygene, and one part of phlogistic air or azote, being long exposed to electric shocks, unite, and produce nitrous acid.

From The Botanic Garden A Poem in Two Parts. Part 1: the Economy of Vegetation by Darwin, Erasmus