What does brimstone mean?
Brimstone is an old-fashioned English name for sulfur, the pale yellow, brittle non-metallic element known since antiquity. The name reflects the medieval belief that sulfur was found as a stony mineral that burned with a characteristic blue flame and acrid odor, hence "burning stone." Today the literal sense survives mostly in historical, geological, or biblical contexts, while the word's most familiar life is figurative: the phrase "fire and brimstone" conjures images of hellfire and divine punishment, drawing on biblical passages such as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, where the Lord rained burning sulfur upon the cities. A "fire-and-brimstone" sermon or speaker is one marked by fierce, condemnatory rhetoric. Because the chemical term has been superseded by "sulfur," brimstone now carries an unmistakably archaic and dramatic flavor, making it valuable chiefly to writers seeking biblical, gothic, or rhetorical intensity.
The element sulfur, especially in its yellow crystalline form, historically associated with burning and volcanoes.
"Deposits of brimstone glittered along the crater rim."
Archaic or literary; "sulfur" is the normal modern term.
(Figurative) Hellfire or the wrath of God, especially in the phrase "fire and brimstone".
"The revivalist's fire-and-brimstone style drew huge crowds."
Almost always used within the fixed phrase "fire and brimstone" in modern English.
Rarely pluralized; brimstone is normally treated as an uncountable mass noun. The plural appears only occasionally, e.g., in older texts referring to individual pieces or lumps of sulfur.
"The ground was scattered with burning brimstones after the eruption."
"Fire and brimstone" isn't just colorful preaching — brimstone is literally burning sulfur, the element that made volcanic regions like the Dead Sea valley smell of eternal damnation.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of brimstone
Brimstone derives from Old English brynstan, meaning "burning stone," formed from brinnen ("to burn") plus stan ("stone"). The spelling was altered in Middle English by association with "brime" (an old name for sulfur). It shares its Germanic burning root with words such as brand and burn, though it has no Latin or Greek relatives; the element itself was named sulfur long before.
How brimstone is actually used
Largely literary and archaic in its literal sense — "sulfur/sulphur" is the standard modern term for the element. The word survives actively mainly in the fixed phrase "fire and brimstone," which carries strong religious connotations of hellfire preaching and apocalyptic judgment.