noun, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'
tartar; wine stone
Technical term for the crystalline deposit (potassium bitartrate) that forms during wine fermentation and aging. Also used attributively in compounds like 酒石酸 (tartaric acid).
ワインの樽の底に酒石が沈殿していた。
Tartar had settled at the bottom of the wine barrel.
酒石酸はワインに含まれる有機酸の一つだ。
Tartaric acid is one of the organic acids found in wine.
酒石酸 is tartaric acid, the main component of 酒石; 酒石 refers to the crude crystalline deposit itself.
Compound of 酒 (sake, wine) and 石 (stone), literally 'wine stone', a calque of the concept of tartar as a stony deposit in wine.