bitartrate

[bahy-tahr-treyt]

noun

Chemistry.

1. a tartrate in which only one of the two acidic hydrogen atoms of tartaric acid is replaced by a metal or positive group; an acid tartrate; a hydrogen tartrate, as sodium bitartrate.

bitartrate

/ baɪˈtɑːˌtreɪt /

noun

1. Also called: hydrogen tartrate. (not in technical usage) a salt or ester of tartaric acid containing the monovalent group -HC 4 H 4 O 6 or the ion HC 4 H 4 O 6 ^–

Word History and Origins

Origin of bitartrate¹

First recorded in 1875–80; bi- ¹ + tartrate

Example Sentences

Chemically speaking, this powder is potassium bitartrate, a salt of mild tartaric acid, with a whole range of useful kitchen applications, from stabilizing beaten egg whites to keeping caramels smooth and chewy.

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My kitchen includes a bunch of chemicals that aren’t kept under the sink or handled only with gloves, including sodium bicarbonate, acetic acid, potassium bitartrate, lecithin, pectin, and ascorbic acid.

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When regarded necessary, gentle purgation is solicited by administering bitartrate of potassium in lemonade or by combining mild mercurial doses with antiperiodics when these latter are resorted to during the fever.

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Cream′-wove, woven of a cream-colour; Cream′y, full of or like cream: gathering like cream.—Cream of tartar, a white crystalline compound made by purifying argol, bitartrate of potash.

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It is decomposed by a hot solution of potassium bitartrate.

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