borax

borax¹

/bawr"aks, -euhks, bohr"-/, n., pl. boraxes, boraces /bawr"euh seez', bohr"-/.

a white, water-soluble powder or crystals, hydrated sodium borate, Na₂B₄O₇·10H₂O, occurring naturally or obtained from naturally occurring borates; tincal: used as a flux, cleansing agent, in the manufacture of glass, porcelain, and enamel, and in tanning. Also called sodium borate, sodium pyroborate, sodium tetraborate.

[1350-1400; < ML dial. Ar buraq < MPers burag; r. ME boras < MF < ML borax]

borax²

/bawr"aks, -euhks, bohr"-/, n.

cheap, showy, poorly made merchandise, esp. cheaply built furniture of an undistinguished or heterogeneous style.

[1940-45, Amer.; of uncert. orig.]

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or tincal

Sodium tetraborate decahydrate (Na₂B₄O₅(OH)₄ · H₂O), a soft, light, colourless crystalline mineral used as a component of glass and pottery glazes in the ceramics industry, as a solvent for metal-oxide slags in metallurgy, as a flux in welding and soldering, and as a fertilizer additive, a soap supplement, a disinfectant, a mouthwash, and a water softener.

About 50% of the world's supply comes from southern California deserts, including Death Valley.

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▪ chemical compound

also called  Tincal,  

      sodium tetraborate decahydrate (Na₂B₄O₇·10H₂O). A soft and light, colourless crystalline substance, borax is used in many ways—as a component of glass and pottery glazes in the ceramics industry, as a solvent for metal-oxide slags in metallurgy, as a flux in welding and soldering, and as a fertilizer additive, a soap supplement, a disinfectant, a mouthwash, and a water softener.

      Borax has been known since early times, when it was obtained from saline lakes in Kashmir and Tibet and taken to Europe to be refined. It has been produced commercially from colemanite, kernite, and tincalconite, as well as from the mineral borax, by dissolving the ore in water, filtering out the clay, and evaporating the solution. Colemanite was the chief source until the 1930s, when it was supplanted by kernite, which was subsequently replaced by the mineral borax. About 50 percent of the world's supply of commercial boron compounds comes from southern California: (California) the borax crusts and brine from Searles Lake, the large kernite and borax deposits near Kramer, and the colemanite deposits from Death Valley, formed by the evaporation of hot springs or saline lakes and playas. For detailed physical properties, see borate mineral (table).

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