Etymology

alkaline

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Today it means: Of, or relating to an alkali, one of a class of caustic bases. Full definition →

Arabic اَلْقِلْي
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The story

  1. Arabic · derived fromاَلْقِلْي“alkali, ashes of the saltwort”
  2. English todayalkaline

First attested in 1677. From alkali + -ine, ultimately from Arabic اَلْقِلْي (al-qily, “alkali, ashes of the saltwort”), related to قَلَى (qalā, “to roast in a pan, fry”).

Words from the same roots

Arabicاَلْقِلْي all →

alkali

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.