borax

See also bórax

English

Wikipedia

Borax

Etymology

From Middle English boras, from Anglo-Norman boreis, from Medieval Latin baurach (“borax”), from Arabic بورق (báuraq), from Middle Persian būrak. Compare Persian بوره (būreh).

Noun

borax (uncountable)

1. A white or gray/grey crystalline salt, with a slight alkaline taste, used as a flux, in soldering metals, making enamels, fixing colors/colours on porcelain, and as a soap, etc.
2. (chemistry) The sodium salt of boric acid, Na₂B₄O₇, either anhydrous or with 5 or 10 molecules of water of crystallisation; sodium tetraborate.

Synonyms

• E285 when used as a preservative

Translations

crystalline salt

Albanian: boraks m. Arabic: بورق (báuraq) m. Armenian: բորակ (hy) (borak) Catalan: bòrax (ca) m. Esperanto: borakso (eo) Finnish: booraksi (fi) French: borax (fr) m.

German: Borax (de) n. Hungarian: bórax (hu) Italian: borace (it) m. Persian: بوره (būreh) Russian: бура (ru) (burá) f. Spanish: bórax (es) m., borraj (es) m. Turkish: boraks (tr)

Derived terms

• borax bead test
• boracic
• borise, borize
• boron

Adjective

borax (not comparable)

1. Cheap or tawdry, referring to furniture or other works of industrial design.

References

• borax at the Free Dictionary