Etymology

kieselguhr

K5I1E1S1E1L1G2U1H4R1

Today it means: Diatomaceous earth, a kind of soft rock containing the remains of diatoms; it absorbs nitroglycerine and is used to manufacture dynamite. Full definition →

German Kieselguhr
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The story

  1. German · borrowed fromKieselguhr
  2. English todaykieselguhr

Borrowed from German Kieselguhr, older spelling of Kieselgur, from Kiesel (“pebble, gravel”) + Gur (“guhr”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.