Glauber's salt
- noun
- /ˈɡlaʊbərz sɔlt/
- Specialized
:
sal de Glauber
- Historically, Glauber's salt was administered as a laxative for digestive disorders.
Examples
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The doctor recommended using Glauber's salt for its laxative properties.
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Industrial processes sometimes utilize Glauber's salt for its dehydrating properties.
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The laboratory ordered more Glauber's salt to use in their experiments.
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Don't forget to include Glauber's salt in your shopping list!
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Historically, Glauber's salt was administered as a laxative for digestive disorders.
-
The doctor recommended using Glauber's salt for its laxative properties.
-
Industrial processes sometimes utilize Glauber's salt for its dehydrating properties.
Synonyms
A white salt doctors use to make you go to the toilet and factories use to make chemicals
A white salt used to make glass, paper, dyes, and some medicines
Surface Forms
Morphology
Glauber's + salt
The possessive form + noun (Glauber's salt) clearly signals to a B1 learner that this is a kind of salt associated with someone named Glauber, so they can infer it is a type of chemical salt. However, the precise chemical identity (sodium sulfate) and its specific uses as a laxative/industrial compound cannot be derived from the constituents, so the meaning is only partially predictable.
Etymology
Glauber's salt is named after a 17th-century scientist Glauber who found white crystals in natural springs and called them a kind of salt. He used these crystals as a strong medicine to make people go to the toilet, so the name stuck and today Glauber's salt refers to the chemical used as a 'laxative' and in industry.
