ammonia

From Latin sal ammoniacus (“salt of Amun, ammonium chloride”), named so because it was found near the temple of (Jupiter) Ammon in Egypt. Ammon derives from Ancient Greek Ἄμμων (Ámmōn), from Egyptian jmn (

).

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: əmōn'yə, əmō'niə, IPA^(key): /əˈməʊ.nɪ.ə/
• (US) enPR: əmōn'yə, əmō'nēə, IPA^(key): /əˈmoʊn.jə/, (less common) /əˈmoʊ.ni.ə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

ammonia (countable and uncountable, plural ammonias)

2. (inorganic chemistry) A gaseous, toxic compound of hydrogen and nitrogen, NH₃, with a pungent smell and taste.
3. A solution of this compound in water used domestically as a cleaning fluid.

   Never use ammonia to clean metal writing pens.

   • 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 95:

     Slowly we rode down to the camp - a very sorrowful party. We took "Nep" straight to the surgery, where the doctor instantly applied injections of ammonia, then the new remedy for snake bite.

   • 1985 December 14, Kim Westheimer, “Rape-Surviving Lesbian Faces Repeated Attacks”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 22, page 1:

     When the woman pressed charges against the man who beat her up and threatened her, the man's girlfriend approached her after work and threw a bottle of ammonia at her.

• ammonia on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “ammonia”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “ammonia”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• Amaimon

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /ɑˈmoː.ni.aː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: am‧mo‧ni‧a

ammonia f (uncountable)

1. ammonia solution

• ammoniak

• → Indonesian: amonia