Alcali

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A substance that can neutralize acids and is often soluble in water
2. typically referring to a base that yields hydroxide ions in solution
3. a key component in many chemical reactions and industrial processes

Etymology: Alkali comes from Arabic "al-qaly," meaning the ashes of saltwort, a coastal plant burned to extract its soda-rich residue. Medieval Arabic chemists and merchants used that residue for making glass, soap and bleach, and the Arabic term passed into Medieval Latin as "alkali" in the 1300s or so, becoming English around the same time. The surprise is that the word originally named a substance, not a property. Its chemical sense only took shape in the 1700s, when chemists realised that the ash of plants and the mineral soda shared the same ability to neutralise acids, and the word was extended to cover that whole class of substances.

Synonyms: alkali, base, soda, lye, caustic