† salˈpetre Obs.
Also 4–6 salpeter, 5 salpetyr, 6 -ir, sall-petter, saulpeter.
[a. OF. salpetre (mod.F. salpêtre), ad. med.L. salpetra, prob. for sal petræ ‘salt of stone’ (sal, see sal1; petræ gen. of late L. petra, whence F. pierre stone), so called because the salt occurs as an incrustation on stones. Cf. G. salpeter.]
Saltpetre.
| c 1325 [see sal-ammoniac]. 1384–5 Durh. Acc. Rolls. (Surtees) 594 Item pro Salpetre emp. pro Gonnis, vij s. vj d. c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 255 Sal peter, vitriole. 1483 Cath. Angl. 317/2 Salpetyr. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lix. 9 A refyng sone of rakyng Muris..That fulle dismemberit hes my meter, And poysound it with strang salpeter. 1601 Holland Pliny II. xxxi. x. 421 The true marke to know good sal-petre, Is to be verie light in hand [etc.]. 1667 Boyle Orig. Formes & Qual. (ed. 2) 115 It [sc. vitriol] is wont to be reckon'd with Sal-petre, Sea-salt, and Sal Gem among true Salts. |
Hence † sal-petery, salpetrous adjs., impregnated with saltpetre, nitrous.
| 1608 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. iii. Schisme 674 Rich Jericho's (sometimes) sal-peetry soyl..Brought forth no fruit. 1731 Bailey (vol. II), Salpetrous. 1883 D. Cook On Stage I. 221 Sparks and smoke and fearful salpetrous fumes. |