saltpetre

/ ˌsɔːltˈpiːtə /

noun

1. another name for potassium nitrate
2. short for Chile saltpetre

Word History and Origins

Origin of saltpetre¹

C16: from Old French salpetre, from Latin sal petrae salt of rock

Example Sentences

Instead, they said warehouses containing the mineral fertiliser saltpetre had exploded - a claim ridiculed by Ukrainian officials.

From BBC

To keep it from melting, the ice was treated with potassium nitrate, otherwise known as saltpetre.

From Salon

As I salted some pork belly to make my own bacon – plainly, the food most of us would choose over longevity – I also cured some beef using saltpetre as well as salt, to act as a kind of scientific control experiment.

From The Guardian

It’s all about nitrates and nitrites, which have traditionally been used to keep meat pink and kill botulism: saltpetre, which you use in the salt beef, is potassium nitrate.

From The Guardian

Saltpetre – sometimes called sal prunella – has been used in some recipes for salted meats since ancient times.

From The Guardian