WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Ni"ter, Ni"tre
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [F. nitre, L. nitrum native soda, natron, Gr. nit, natr natron. Cf. Natron.]
Definition : 1. (Chem.)

Defn: A white crystalline semitransparent salt; potassium nitrate; saltpeter. See Saltpeter.

2. (Chem.)

Defn: Native sodium carbonate; natron. [Obs.] For though thou wash thee with niter, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me. Jer. ii. 22. Cubic niter, a deliquescent salt, sodium nitrate, found as a native incrustation, like niter, in Peru and Chili, whence it is known also as Chili saltpeter. -- Niter bush (Bot.), a genus (Nitraria) of thorny shrubs bearing edible berries, and growing in the saline plains of Asia and Northern Africa.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913