Niter \Ni"ter\, Nitre \Ni"tre\, n. [F. nitre, L. nitrum native soda, natron, Gr. ?; cf. Ar. nit?n, natr?n natron. Cf. Natron.]

1. (Chem.) A white crystalline semitransparent salt; potassium nitrate; saltpeter. See Saltpeter.

2. (Chem.) Native sodium carbonate; natron. [Obs.]

For though thou wash thee with niter, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me. --Jer. ii. 22.

Cubic niter, a deliquescent salt, sodium nitrate, found as a native incrustation, like niter, in Peru and Chili, whence it is known also as Chili saltpeter.

Niter bush (Bot.), a genus (Nitraria) of thorny shrubs bearing edible berries, and growing in the saline plains of Asia and Northern Africa.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)