aluminum chloride

noun

Chemistry.

1. a yellow-white, crystalline, water-soluble solid that in its white hydrated form, AlCl 3 ⋅6H 2 O, is used chiefly as a wood preservative and in its yellow-white anhydrous form, AlCl 3 , chiefly as a catalyst.

Word History and Origins

Origin of aluminum chloride¹

First recorded in 1865–70