Picrate

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A chemical salt or ester formed from picric acid, an explosive yellow compound used in dyes and munitions
2. A salt derived from picric acid, a strong acid that forms explosive yellow crystals used historically in dyeing and weaponry
3. Any compound made by combining picric acid with a base, typically a yellow explosive salt used in chemistry and industry

Etymology: Picrate is a chemistry term built from "picric acid" plus the suffix "-ate," which marks a salt or ester of an acid. The "-ate" ending comes from Latin "-atus," the source of the English "-ate" suffix used to name chemical salts and esters. So a picrate is simply a salt or ester formed from picric acid. The acid itself takes its name from the Greek "pikros," meaning "bitter," because of its intensely bitter taste. Chemists later reused the same pattern to name the salts formed from it, so the word describes a chemical family rather than a single substance.