saltpeter
or salt·pe·tre
[ sawlt-pee-ter ]
/ ˌsɔltˈpi tər /
noun
the form of potassium nitrate, KNO3, that occurs naturally, used in the manufacture of fireworks, fluxes, gunpowder, etc.; niter.
QUIZZES
DISCOVER THE INFLUENCE OF PORTUGUESE ON ENGLISH VIA THIS QUIZ!
We’ve gathered some interesting words donated to English from Portuguese … as well as some that just don’t translate at all. Do you know what they mean?
Question 1 of 11
Which of the following animal names traces its immediate origin to Portuguese?
Origin of saltpeter
1275–1325; earlier salt peter; replacing Middle English sal peter, salpetre<Medieval Latin salpetrē, for Latin sal petrae salt of rock, so called because it commonly encrusts stones
Words nearby saltpeter
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for saltpeter
Scientific definitions for saltpeter
saltpeter
[ sôlt′pē′tər ]
See potassium nitrate.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.