Oxymuriatic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to an obsolete chemical name for chlorine, once used for the gas that is now called chlorine
2. Describing a substance or compound associated with oxymuriatic acid, an archaic term for the greenish gas chlorine
3. Of or pertaining to the old chemical designation for chlorine, a term used before modern nomenclature was adopted

Etymology: Oxymuriatic is a chemistry term built from two parts: "oxy-", from Greek "oxys" meaning sharp or acid, and "muriatic", from Latin "muria" meaning brine. "Muriatic" itself describes things connected with brine or salt, and the term "muriatic acid" was the old name for what chemists later called hydrochloric acid. The compound was formed on the French model "oxymuriatique," and English adopted it as a way of describing the gas that chemists then thought contained oxygen combined with the muriatic principle. The name reflected a theory that has since been overturned. Later chemists showed that the gas was an element of its own, and it was renamed chlorine. The result is a word that records a mistaken idea of chemical composition. It survives mainly in historical texts, where it marks a stage in the investigation of this gas.