noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   bittern: the liquor remaining after halite (common salt) has been harvested from saline water (brine), used as a coagulating agent in the manufacture of tofu. uncountable
2. 2
   salt derived from bittern, a powdered form also used in making tofu uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms

magnesium chloride

Etymology

From Japanese 苦汁 (nigari, “bittern”).

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