alum
English
Alternative forms
Etymology 1
From Middle English alum, alum, alym, alyme, from Anglo-Norman alum, alun, from Latin alūmen.
Pronunciation
Noun
alum (countable and uncountable, plural alums)
- An astringent salt, usually occurring in the form of pale crystals, much used in the dyeing and tanning trade and in certain medicines, and now understood to be a double sulphate of potassium and aluminium (K2SO4.Al2(SO4)3.24H2O). [from 14th c.]
- 1991, Felix Gilbert, The Pope, His Banker, and Venice, page 80,
- Venice also needed alum for trade, since it was the point of departure for overland transportation of alum to southern Germany and its cloth-manufacturing Free Cities.
- 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin 2012, p. 201:
- A natural astringent and antiseptic, potassium alum was coveted for its medicinal and cosmetic properties.
- 1991, Felix Gilbert, The Pope, His Banker, and Venice, page 80,
- (chemistry) Any similar double sulphate in which either or both of the potassium and aluminium is wholly or partly replaced by other univalent or tervalent cations. [from 17th c.]
- 1807, William Nicholson (editor), A Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts, Volume XVIII, page 286,
- With weld and cochineal, which are colouring matters the most sensible to the action of sulphate of iron, the purified alums gave us colours more brilliant, fresh, and in a slight degree lighter; while those with our common alums were all duller, and evidently of a deeper hue.
- 2000 June, Competition Science Vision, page 486,
- For similar reasons, aluminium sulphate and alums are used in dyeing cloth. […] Normally alums are soluble in water and insoluble in alcohols.
- 2005, Amit Arora, Text Book Of Inorganic Chemistry, page 386,
- In structure, the alums consist of simple ions, being not complexes, but double salts. Potash alum or potassium alum is the common alum, with the formula KAl(SO4)2.12H2O) which, for convenience, may be written K2SO4.Al2(SO4)3.24H2O
- 1807, William Nicholson (editor), A Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts, Volume XVIII, page 286,
Synonyms
- (double sulphate of potassium and aluminum): potash alum
Derived terms
Related terms
- aluminiferous, aluniferous
- aluminiform
- aluminilite
- aluminise, aluminize
- aluminite
- aluminous
- alunite
- alunogen
Translations
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See also
Verb
alum (third-person singular simple present alums, present participle aluming, simple past and past participle alumed)
- (transitive) To steep in, or otherwise impregnate with, a solution of alum; to treat with alum.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Ure to this entry?)
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 2
From alumnus and alumna (> alumn- > alum), by the removal of the originally Latin gender-specific nominative singular case endings -us (masculine) and -a (feminine).
Pronunciation
Noun
alum (plural alums)
- (shortening, Canada, US) A past attendee or graduate (of either gender) of a college, university or other educational institution.
- 1961 Spring, Anchora of Delta Gamma, Volume LXXVII, No. 3, page 59,
- Evanston-North Shore alums are happy to open their homes to Sigma actives for special social events.
- 2006, Ted Hart, James M. Greenfield, Pamela M. Gignac, Christopher Carnie, Major Donors: Finding Big Gifts in Your Database and Online, page 47,
- You'll remember that we're starting with a list of slightly over 7,000 names that are alums (most of them over 50) that we'd like to whittle down to a manageable list of prospects.
- 2009, Timothy C. Jacobson, Charity & Merit: Trinity School at 300, page 190,
- All schools that last have alums, and, ancient as it was by American standards, Trinity by mid-century had thousands.
- 1961 Spring, Anchora of Delta Gamma, Volume LXXVII, No. 3, page 59,
Related terms
Anagrams
Latin
Etymology
From Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHlu- (“esculent root”), uncertainly reconstructed. Related to Sanskrit आलु (ālu, “esculent root”), whence Hindi आलु (ālu, “potato, yam”), and the culinary borrowing, English aloo (“potato”) and Latin allium (“garlic”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ˈaː.lum/, [ˈäːɫ̪ʊ̃ˑ]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈa.lum/, [ˈäːlum]
Noun
ālum n (genitive ālī); second declension
- A plant, the comfrey
Declension
Second-declension noun (neuter).
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | ālum | āla |
Genitive | ālī | ālōrum |
Dative | ālō | ālīs |
Accusative | ālum | āla |
Ablative | ālō | ālīs |
Vocative | ālum | āla |
References
- alum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- “alum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Latvian
Noun
alum m
- (deprecated template usage) dative singular form of alus
Middle English
Noun
alum
- Alternative form of alym
Old French
Alternative forms
Etymology
Noun
alum oblique singular, m (oblique plural aluns, nominative singular aluns, nominative plural alum)
Descendants
References
- alum on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Anglo-Norman
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Chemistry
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- Requests for quotations/Ure
- Canadian English
- American English
- English heteronyms
- en:People
- Latin terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Latin 2-syllable words
- Latin terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latin lemmas
- Latin nouns
- Latin second declension nouns
- Latin neuter nouns in the second declension
- Latin neuter nouns
- la:Plants
- Latvian non-lemma forms
- Latvian noun forms
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Old French terms inherited from Latin
- Old French terms derived from Latin
- Old French lemmas
- Old French nouns
- Old French masculine nouns