Niter definition | Dictionary.com

ni⋅ter

[nahy-ter]

–noun

1.	potassium nitrate.

2.	sodium nitrate.

Also, especially British, nitre.

Origin:
1375–1425; late ME nitre < L nitrum < Gk nítron natron

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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ni·ter (nī'tər) Pronunciation Key
n. A white, gray, or colorless mineral of potassium nitrate, KNO₃, used in making gunpowder. Also called saltpeter.

[Middle English nitre, sodium carbonate, natron, from Old French, from Latin nitrum, from Greek nitron, from Egyptian nṯr.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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niter
noun
(KNO3) used especially as a fertilizer and explosive [syn: potassium nitrate]

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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niter (nī'tər) Pronunciation Key

A naturally occurring mineral form of potassium nitrate. It is used to make gunpowder.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Main Entry: ni·ter
Variant: or chiefly British ni·tre /'nIt-&r/
Function: noun
1 : POTASSIUM NITRATE
2 archaic :

CHILE SALTPETER

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Niter

Ni"ter\, Nitre \Ni"tre\, n. [F. nitre, L. nitrum native soda, natron, Gr. ?; cf. Ar. nit?n, natr?n natron. Cf. Natron.]

1. (Chem.) A white crystalline semitransparent salt; potassium nitrate; saltpeter. See Saltpeter.

2. (Chem.) Native sodium carbonate; natron. [Obs.]

For though thou wash thee with niter, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me. --Jer. ii. 22.

Cubic niter, a deliquescent salt, sodium nitrate, found as a native incrustation, like niter, in Peru and Chili, whence it is known also as Chili saltpeter.

Niter bush (Bot.), a genus (Nitraria) of thorny shrubs bearing edible berries, and growing in the saline plains of Asia and Northern Africa.

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