sal volatile

noun

an aromatic alcoholic solution of ammonium carbonate, the chief ingredient in smelling salts.

Origin:
1645–55; < Neo-Latin: volatile salt

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source

Collins

World English Dictionary

sal volatile (vɒˈlætɪlɪ)

—n
1.	another name for ammonium carbonate
2.	spirits of ammonia, Also called: hartshorn a solution of ammonium carbonate in alcohol and aqueous ammonia, often containing aromatic oils, used as smelling salts

[C17: from New Latin: volatile salt]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

00:10

Sal volatile is always a great word to know.

So is interrobang. Does it mean:

a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

sal volatile

1654, from Mod.L., lit. "volatile salt" (see salt + volatile); ammonium carbonate, especially as used in reviving persons who have fainted.

Matching Quote

"The impulse to perfection cannot exist where the definition of perfection is the arbitrary decision of authority. That which is born in loneliness and from the heart cannot be defended against the judgment of a committee of sycophants. The volatile essences which make literature cannot survive the clichés of a long series of story conferences."

-Raymond Chandler

Want sal volatile ad-free? Click here!

sal volatile

sal vo·la·ti·le