ammoniac

[uh-moh-nee-ak]

noun

Also am·mo·ni·a·cum

[am-uh-nahy-uh-kuh m] /ˌæm əˈnaɪ ə kəm/. gum ammoniac.

adjective

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for ammoniac

Historical Examples of ammoniac

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.
Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town
Cory Doctorow
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

ammoniac

adjective

a variant of ammoniacal

ammoniac

noun

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

Word Origin for ammoniac

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.

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.