Phrase guide

potassium nitrate

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

KNO3, a naturally occurring salt, notably used as an ingredient of gunpowder; also used a food preservative and as an ingredient in toothpaste for sensitive gums; historically used in the production of nitric acid (HNO3).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: chemistry, inorganic-chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

(KNO3) used especially as a fertilizer and explosive

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: saltpeter, saltpetre, niter, nitre

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: nitrate

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

58 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Aramaic: ܫܵܘܪܵܐ (šōrā) — KNO3
  • Armenian: բորակ (borak) — KNO3
  • Belarusian: салетра (saletra) — KNO3
  • Bulgarian: поташ (potaš) — KNO3
  • Chinese Mandarin: 硝石 (xiāoshí) — KNO3
  • Chinese Mandarin: 硝酸鉀 /硝酸钾 (xiāosuānjiǎ) — KNO3
  • Czech: dusičnan draselný — KNO3
  • Danish: kaliumnitrat — KNO3
  • Danish: salpeter — KNO3
  • Dutch: kaliumnitraat — KNO3
  • Esperanto: kalia nitrato — KNO3
  • Esperanto: salpetro — KNO3
  • Finnish: kaliumnitraatti — KNO3
  • Finnish: kalisalpietari — KNO3
  • Finnish: salpietari — KNO3
  • French: salpêtre — KNO3
  • French: salpêtre du Chili — KNO3
  • French: nitre — KNO3
  • German: Salpeter — KNO3
  • German: Kalisalpeter — KNO3
  • Hindi: शोरा (śorā) — KNO3
  • Hungarian: kálium-nitrát — KNO3
  • Hungarian: salétrom — KNO3
  • Hungarian: salétromsó — KNO3
  • Icelandic: saltpétur — KNO3
  • Icelandic: kalínítrat — KNO3
  • Icelandic: kalísaltpétur — KNO3
  • Icelandic: kalíumnítrat — KNO3
  • Indonesian: kalium nitrat — KNO3
  • Indonesian: salpeter — KNO3
  • Italian: salnitro — KNO3
  • Japanese: 硝石 (shōseki) — KNO3
  • Japanese: 硝酸カリウム (shōsan kariumu) — KNO3
  • Kashubian: salpéter — KNO3
  • Khmer: ផ្កាក្រាម (pkaa kraam) — KNO3
  • Lao: ເຈຍ (chīa) — KNO3
  • Latin: sal petrae — KNO3
  • Māori: konurehu pākawa ota — KNO3
  • Mongolian: шүү (šüü) — KNO3
  • Norwegian Bokmål: salpeter — KNO3
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: salpeter — KNO3
  • Persian: شوره (šure) — KNO3
  • Plautdietsch: Soltpeeta — KNO3
  • Portuguese: salitre — KNO3
  • Quechua: qullpa — KNO3
  • Romanian: azotat de potasiu — KNO3
  • Russian: сели́тра (selítra) — KNO3
  • Spanish: salitre — KNO3
  • Swedish: salpeter — KNO3
  • Tagalog: salitre — KNO3
  • Telugu: పొటాషియం నైట్రేటు (poṭāṣiyaṁ naiṭrēṭu) — KNO3
  • Thai: โพแทสเซียมไนเตรต — KNO3
  • Thai: ดินประสิว (din-bprà-sǐu) — KNO3
  • Turkish: güherçile — KNO3
  • Turkish: potasyum nitrat — KNO3
  • Ottoman Turkish: كوهرچله (güherçile) — KNO3
  • Vietnamese: diêm tiêu — KNO3
  • Vietnamese: tiêu thạch — KNO3