Aqueous

How to spell aqueous

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce aqueous

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does aqueous mean?

1. adjectiveConsisting of, dissolved in, or relating to water.

Aqueous in a sentence

• The chemist dissolved the salt to make an aqueous solution.

• The cream has an aqueous base, so it absorbs quickly into the skin.

Where does aqueous come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces directly to the Latin aqua, meaning simply 'water', the same root that gives us 'aquarium', 'aquatic', and 'aqueduct'. Scholars built the adjective on aqueus, meaning 'watery' or 'of water', and English adopted it in the early 1600s as a technical term in chemistry and medicine. The chosen ending is the Latinate -eous, parallel to words like 'gaseous' and 'igneous', rather than the more common English -ious, and that unusual qu-e-ous cluster is exactly where modern writers stumble. From the start it described things dissolved in or consisting of water, which is still its meaning when chemists speak of an aqueous solution. The strong link back to aqua is the best memory hook: keep the 'aqu' intact, then add 'eous'.

How the word is built

• aqu- (from Latin aqua: water)
• -eous (adjective suffix meaning 'of the nature of')