Meanings
nounhypochlorite (plural hypochlorites)
plural hypochlorites
- chemistryany salt of hypochlorous acid; used as a household bleach.
Hypochlorous acid is a weak acid with a pH slightly below neutral. It should not be confused with sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), the main active ingredient in household bleach products, even though they both involve chlorine.
2025 May 1, Jen Schwartz, “The magic molecule”, in Scientific American, volume 332, number 5, pages 54-55
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*upó
- Ancient Greekῠ̔πό (hŭpó)
- Ancient Greekὑπο- (hupo-)
- Englishhypo-
- Englishchlorite
- Englishhypochlorite
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 次氯酸鹽 /次氯酸盐
- 次氯酸鹽 /次氯酸盐 (cìlǜsuānyán)salt of hypochlorous acid
Czech chlornan
- chlornansalt of hypochlorous acid
Finnish hypokloriitti
- hypokloriittisalt of hypochlorous acid
German Hypochlorit
- Hypochloritsalt of hypochlorous acid
Hungarian hipoklorit
- hipokloritsalt of hypochlorous acid
Irish fochlóirít, hipeaclóirít
- fochlóirítsalt of hypochlorous acid
- hipeaclóirítsalt of hypochlorous acid
Italian ipoclorito
- ipocloritosalt of hypochlorous acid
Japanese 次亜塩素酸塩
- 次亜塩素酸塩 (ziaensosanen)salt of hypochlorous acid
Polish podchloryn
- podchlorynsalt of hypochlorous acid
Russian гипохлори́т
- гипохлори́т (gipoxlorít)salt of hypochlorous acid
Swedish hypoklorit
- hypokloritsalt of hypochlorous acid
Cite this entry
APA
hypochlorite. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hypochlorite
MLA
“hypochlorite.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hypochlorite. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hypochlorite,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hypochlorite.
Source: hypochlorite on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.