Meanings
- obsoleteuncountablechemistrySilver nitrate fused into a stick and used for cauterizing and as a disinfectant before modern antibiotics.
However, the doctor soon relieved his sufferings, though the treatment was severe; nothing short of an application of lunar caustic allayed the inflammation.
1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 78Synonyms: infernal stone, lapis infernalis
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSilver nitrate fused into a stick and used for cauterizing and as a disinfectant before modern antibiotics.
Origin
From lunar (“[alchemical] silver”) + caustic.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian адски камък
- адски камък (adski kamăk)silver nitrate fused into a stick
Esperanto lapiso
- lapisosilver nitrate fused into a stick
Finnish laapispuikko
- laapispuikkosilver nitrate fused into a stick
German Höllenstein
- Höllensteinsilver nitrate fused into a stick
Cite this entry
lunar caustic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lunar%20caustic
“lunar caustic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lunar%20caustic. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lunar caustic,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lunar%20caustic.
Source: lunar caustic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.