Lixivial

adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of or derived from lye or wood ashes. historical, obsolete

    "[…] we obtain'd, more than once, out of 16 ounces of salt-petre, 10 ounces of fix'd nitre, very lixivial in tast and operation, and of a pleasant greenish blue colour, deeper than salt of tartar will usually be brought to, by being, in a crucible, kept twenty times as long in a strong fire."

Example

More examples

"[…] we obtain'd, more than once, out of 16 ounces of salt-petre, 10 ounces of fix'd nitre, very lixivial in tast and operation, and of a pleasant greenish blue colour, deeper than salt of tartar will usually be brought to, by being, in a crucible, kept twenty times as long in a strong fire."

Etymology

From Latin lixivius, lixīvus, from lixa (“ashes, lye ashes, lye”). Compare French lixiviel.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.