aqua fortis

American  

noun

Chemistry.

1. nitric acid.

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aqua fortis British  

/ ˈfɔːtɪs /

noun

1. an obsolete name for nitric acid

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Etymology

Origin of aqua fortis

1595–1605; < Latin: literally, strong water

Example Sentences

It was too intensely bitter for my taste, and I would secretly slip my allowance to John Barton, or Frank Burnham, who would have drunk it, I reckon, if it had been one-half aqua fortis.

From The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865 by Stillwell, Leander

The aqua fortis must not be too strong, or the wood will go brown or black.

From Intarsia and Marquetry by Jackson, F. Hamilton (Frederick Hamilton)

Sutter read up the account of gold in an encyclopedia, tested the substance with aqua fortis, weighed it, and decided that Marshall was right, and that the material he had found was undoubtedly gold.

From The Greater Republic A History of the United States by Morris, Charles

The nitrous air gradually lost its elasticity, the bladder collapsed, and became yellow as if corroded by aqua fortis.

From Discovery of Oxygen, Part 2 by Scheele, Carl Wilhelm

I dissolved in aqua fortis the white magnesia employed in medicine; I evaporated this solution to dryness.

From Discovery of Oxygen, Part 2 by Scheele, Carl Wilhelm