gum ammoniac

gum ammoniac

noun
a brownish-yellow gum resin, having an acrid taste, occurring in tearlike fragments from a plant, Dorema ammoniacum, of western Asia: used in porcelain ceramics and in medicine as an expectorant and counterirritant.
Also called ammoniac, ammoniacum.


Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Gum ammoniac is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
Collins
World English Dictionary
gum ammoniac
 
n
another name for ammoniac

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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