anion

UK/ˈænˌaɪ.ɒn/US/ˈænˌaɪ.ən/

nounC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,940 of 15,258mostly written

Other forms: anions

An anion is an ion carrying a negative charge. A chloride anion, anion exchange, anions in solution.

It is said as an-ion in three syllables and is the counterpart of a cation. The name means going up, since an anion moves towards the positive electrode, and both words were coined in 1834 for Faraday.

Definitions of anion

1nounanionAn ion carrying a negative charge.C2
“Chloride is an anion because it has gained an extra electron.”

anion is an ion.

Where it comes from

Greek anion means going up, coined in 1834 for Faraday's work on electricity.

Ancient Greek
ἀνῐόν
English, today
anion

Built from

ἄνειμι · Ancient Greek — go up
ἀνά · Ancient Greek — up
εἶμι · Ancient Greek — go

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἀνῐόν, from und + ᾰ̓νᾰ-. Ancient Greek ἀνιόν (“(thing) going up”), neuter present participle of ἄνειμι (“go up”), from ἀνά (“up”) + εἶμι (“go”). coined by William Whewell in 1834 for Michael Faraday, who introduced it later that year. by surface analysis, an- + ion.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Chemistry & Elements

Practise this word

anion in the wild

The anion has eight valence electrons, the radical seven and the cation six.
Methyl group
The chloride ion is the anion of chlorine, that is, chlorine with an extra electron.
Chloride
The systematic name of the anion is dioxide.
Superoxide
In chemistry, a hydride is formally the anion of hydrogen, a hydrogen ion with two electrons.
Hydride
The anion gap (AG or AGAP) is a value calculated from the results of multiple individual medical lab tests.
Anion gap

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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