aqua 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.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑː.kwə ˈɹeɪ.ɡi.ə/, /ˌækwə ˈɹiː.ʒə/, enPR: ăʹkwə-rēʹjē-ə

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aqua regia (uncountable) (abbreviation A.R.)

1. (inorganic chemistry, archaic) A mixture of three parts concentrated hydrochloric acid to one part concentrated nitric acid, named for its ability to dissolve gold.

   Synonyms: aqua regis, nitro-hydrochloric acid

   • 2005, D.J. Krus, Elements of Propositional Calculus‎^[1]:

     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.

• aqua fortis

• regaline

• aqua rēgis

From aqua (“water”) +‎ rēgia (“royal”), for being a liquid capable of dissolving the most incorruptible of metals, gold.

aqua rēgia f (genitive aquae rēgiae); first declension

1. (alchemy) aqua regia

   Coordinate term: aqua fortis

First-declension noun with a first-declension adjective.

• → English: aqua regia (learned)