baryta

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an older chemical name for barium oxide, or more broadly for certain barium compounds such as barium hydroxide

   The chemist prepared a solution of baryta to test the acidic sample.

From New Latin baryta, coined from Greek barytes, 'heaviness,' based on barys, 'heavy.' The name referred to the unusually high density of barium minerals and was historically used for the alkaline earth now identified as barium oxide.

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