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Glite Dictionary
aqua fortis

aqua fortis

9.9
A very strong acid used in chemistry to dissolve metals
  • noun
  • /ˈækwə ˈfɔrtɪs/
  • Archaic
translation icon : agua fuerte
  • The chemist used aqua fortis to create a new fertilizer.

Examples

  • Alchemists in the Middle Ages referred to nitric acid as aqua fortis because of its ability to dissolve metals.

  • When mixed with other chemicals, aqua fortis can be used to create powerful explosives.

  • The laboratory stored bottles of aqua fortis for various chemical experiments.

  • Have you ever worked with aqua fortis in your experiments?

  • Alchemists in the Middle Ages referred to nitric acid as aqua fortis because of its ability to dissolve metals.

  • The laboratory stored bottles of aqua fortis for various chemical experiments.

  • When mixed with other chemicals, aqua fortis can be used to create powerful explosives.

Synonyms

nitric acid
vsaqua fortis
  • Specialized
2 4.6

A very strong, dangerous acid that can burn skin and is used to make fertilizers and explosives

focuses on industrial uses in making fertilizers explosives and rocket fuels

Surface Forms

aqua fortis singular
aqua fortises plural

Morphology

aqua + fortis

The phrase is a Latin compound literally meaning 'strong water' (aqua = water, fortis = strong), so a learner who somehow knows the constituents could infer a corrosive or powerful liquid. However, identifying it specifically as nitric acid (and its industrial uses) is specialized, archaic, and not directly predictable from the parts in everyday English, so the relation is only partial.

Etymology

Aqua fortis comes from the Latin words aqua and fortis, meaning 'water' and 'strong'. Old alchemists called nitric acid aqua fortis because the acid could 'eat away' metals, so the name now means nitric acid.