Lexic.us

Definition of Nitre

1. Noun. (KNO3) used especially as a fertilizer and explosive.

Definition of Nitre

1. n. See Niter.

Definition of Nitre

1. Noun. (U.K.) (alternative spelling of niter) ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Nitre

1. niter [n -S] - See also: niter

Medical Definition of Nitre

1. 1. A white crystalline semitransparent salt; potassium nitrate; saltpeter. See Saltpeter. 2. Native sodium carbonate; natron. "For though thou wash thee with niter, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me." (Jer. Ii. 22) Cubic niter, a deliquescent salt, sodium nitrate, found as a native incrustation, like niter, in Peru and Chili, whence it is known also as Chili saltpeter. Niter bush, a genus (Nitraria) of thorny shrubs bearing edible berries, and growing in the saline plains of Asia and Northern Africa. Origin: F. Nitre, L. Nitrum native soda, natron, Gr.; cf. Ar. Nitn, natrn natron. Cf. Natron. See Niter. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Nitre

Literary usage of Nitre

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Analyst (1879)
"Mr. Archer said that in the first case his defence was that although the nitre was of inferior quality it was a commercial article, and of the quality ..."

2. Medico-physical Works: Being a Translation of Tractatus Quinque Medico-physici by John Mayow (1908)
"And there is no ground for saying that the nitre of the air is of a more ... Consequently, if that nitre were wholly derived from the air, then nitre of the ..."

3. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences by Southern Society for Clinical Investigation (U.S.) (1889)
"Spirit of nitre has long been a popular remedy for causing an increase ... As a diaphoretic, the solution of ethyl is as efficient as the spirit of nitre. ..."

4. A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines: Containing a Clear Exposition by Andrew Ure (1844)
"On the nitre.—nitre may be readily purified, by solution in water and ... In a saturated aqueous solution of nitre, boiling hot, the temperature is 240° F.; ..."

5. A Dictionary of Science, Literature, & Art: Comprising the Definitions and by George William Cox (1866)
"The greater part of the rough nitre imported from the East Indies is in broken brown crystals, which are more or less deliquescent. ..."

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