Word
Kana: さんそ Romaji: sanso Level: N3

酸素

Meaning in English

oxygen

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What it means

What does 酸素 mean? It denotes the chemical element oxygen, a colorless, odorless gas essential for aerobic respiration and a major component of Earth's atmosphere.

Main meanings

  • The word often appears in science discussions as oxygen, the diatomic gas O2 involved in respiration and oxidation reactions.
  • In industry and medicine, it denotes oxygen gas used for burning, welding, respiration therapy, and environmental monitoring.

How to use it

Used in scientific writing, textbooks, medical terminology, and everyday speech to discuss air quality, respiration, and chemical processes. In casual contexts you may encounter terms and phrases such as 酸素を供給する and 酸素濃度, reflecting topics from biology to environmental science.

Variants and close terms

  • 酸素 (sanso) — oxygen
  • 酸素ガス (sanso gasu) — gaseous oxygen
  • 酸素分子 (sanso bunshi) — oxygen molecule

Composition

  • 酸 (san) meaning acid, sour; used in many chemical terms
  • 素 (so) meaning element, substance; used for fundamental constituents
  • Combined, 酸素 names the element associated with acidity in historical naming, now understood as the chemical element oxygen

Word class

noun (名詞)

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