sal volatile

English

Etymology

From Latin sal volatile, literally "volatile salt".

Noun

sal volatile (uncountable)

1. Ammonium carbonate; especially a solution of this used to restore someone from a faint.

   Synonyms: baker's ammonia, hartshorn salt, salt of hartshorn

   • 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 1, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:

     ... as for Miss Swartz, the rich woolly-haired mulatto from St. Kitt's, on the day Amelia went away, she was in such a passion of tears that they were obliged to send for Dr. Floss, and half tipsify her with sal volatile.