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ammoniac

[uh-moh-nee-ak]
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noun
  1. Also am·mo·ni·a·cum [am-uh-nahy-uh-kuh m] /ˌæm əˈnaɪ ə kəm/. gum ammoniac.
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adjective
  1. ammoniacal.
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Origin of ammoniac

1375–1425; late Middle English armoniac, ammoniak < Latin ammōniacum < Greek ammōniakón (neuter of ammōniakós of Ammon; see -i-, -ac), applied to a salt and a gum resin prepared near the Shrine of Ammon in Libya
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for ammoniac

Historical Examples

  • I do not know,' he once wrote, 'what is precisely meant by "ammoniac manure."

    The Earl of Mayo

    William Wilson Hunter

  • Sal ammoniac is used as the exciting fluid, carbon and zinc being used for plates.

    Things a Boy Should Know About Electricity

    Thomas M. (Thomas Matthew) St. John

  • The whole living room stank of whiskey fumes with an ammoniac tinge.

  • Ammoniac has likewise a peculiar odour, not less penetrating, or less disagreeable, than these other gasses.

    Elements of Chemistry,

    Antoine Lavoisier

  • When combined with oxygen, azote forms the nitrous and nitric oxyds and acids; when with hydrogen, ammoniac is produced.

    Elements of Chemistry,

    Antoine Lavoisier

British Dictionary definitions for ammoniac

ammoniac1

adjective
  1. a variant of ammoniacal
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ammoniac2

noun
  1. a strong-smelling gum resin obtained from the stems of the N Asian umbelliferous plant Dorema ammoniacum and formerly used as an expectorant, stimulant, perfume, and in porcelain cementAlso called: gum ammoniac
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Word Origin

C14: from Latin ammōniacum, from Greek ammōniakos belonging to Ammon (apparently the gum resin was extracted from plants found in Libya near the temple of Ammon)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
ammoniac in Medicine

ammoniac

(ə-mō′nē-ăk′)
n.
  1. A strong-smelling gum resin from the stems of a plant of western Asia, formerly used in perfumery and in medicine as an expectorant and a stimulant.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.