Meanings
abbreviation A.R.
- archaicuncountablechemistryA mixture of three parts concentrated hydrochloric acid to one part concentrated nitric acid, named for its ability to dissolve gold.
1 more example
Consider another example. If gold is placed in aqua regia then it dissolves. Aqua regia is a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids that dissolves gold or platinum. Observation of gold dissolving in aqua regia (argument 1 1) lends credence to the above conditional statement. Not placing the gold into aqua regia and gold not dissolving (argument 0 0) does not disprove the truth-value of this conditional.
2005, D.J. Krus, Elements of Propositional CalculusSynonyms: aqua regis, nitro-hydrochloric acid
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA mixture of three parts concentrated hydrochloric acid to one part concentrated nitric acid, named for its ability to dissolve gold.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna yellow fuming corrosive mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acid that dissolves metals (including gold)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinaqua rēgia
- Englishaqua regia
Learned borrowing from Latin aqua rēgia (literally “royal water”), so named because it is one of the few solvents capable of dissolving noble metals.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مَاء مَلَكِيّ
- مَاء مَلَكِيّ (māʔ malakiyy)mixture of acids
Bengali অম্লরাজ
- অম্লরাজ (omloraj)mixture of acids
Chinese Mandarin 王水, 王酸
- 王水 (wángshuǐ)mixture of acids
- 王酸 (wángsuān)mixture of acids
Danish kongevand
- kongevandmixture of acids
Dutch koningswater
- koningswatermixture of acids
Finnish kuningasvesi
- kuningasvesimixture of acids
French eau régale
- eau régalemixture of acids
German Königswasser
- Königswassermixture of acids
Hebrew מֵי מֶלֶך
- מֵי מֶלֶך (mei mélekh)mixture of acids
Hindi अम्लराज
- अम्लराज (amlarāj)mixture of acids
Hungarian királyvíz
- királyvízmixture of acids
Italian acqua regia
- acqua regiamixture of acids
Japanese 王水
- 王水 (ōsui)mixture of acids
Korean 왕수
- 왕수 (wangsu)mixture of acids
Latin aqua rēgia
- aqua rēgiamixture of acids
Latvian karaļūdens
- karaļūdensmixture of acids
Malay air raja, akua regia
- air rajamixture of acids
- akua regiamixture of acids
Norwegian Bokmål kongevann
- kongevannmixture of acids
Persian تیزاب سلطانی
- تیزاب سلطانی (tizâb-e soltâni)mixture of acids
Polish woda królewska
- woda królewskamixture of acids
Portuguese água régia
- água régiamixture of acids
Russian ца́рская во́дка
- ца́рская во́дка (cárskaja vódka)mixture of acids
Spanish agua regia
- agua regiamixture of acids
Swedish kungsvatten
- kungsvattenmixture of acids
Tamil சுவர்ணபேதி
- சுவர்ணபேதி (cuvarṇapēti)mixture of acids
Turkish altın suyu, kral suyu
- altın suyumixture of acids
- kral suyumixture of acids
Ukrainian ца́рська вода́, ца́рська горі́лка
- ца́рська вода́ (cársʹka vodá)mixture of acids
- ца́рська горі́лка (cársʹka horílka)mixture of acids
Vietnamese nước cường toan, cường thuỷ
- nước cường toanmixture of acids
- cường thuỷmixture of acids
- vương thuỷmixture of acids
Cite this entry
aqua regia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aqua%20regia
“aqua regia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aqua%20regia. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “aqua regia,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aqua%20regia.
Source: aqua regia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.