アルカリ

ア

ル

カ

リ

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

1

noun

alkali

usually written using kana alone

Refers to a base that dissolves in water, or more broadly to alkaline substances. Used in chemistry and everyday contexts such as batteries and cleaning.

from Dutch

アルカリ性せいの洗せん剤ざいは油あぶら汚よごれに強つよい。

Alkaline detergents are effective against grease.

この電でん池ちはアルカリ電でん池ちです。

This battery is an alkaline battery.

Usage patterns

〈物もの〉はアルカリ性せいであるfor something to be alkaline
この温おん泉せんの水みずはアルカリ性せいである。
The water at this hot spring is alkaline.
アルカリで中ちゅう和わするto neutralize (an acid) with alkali
酸さんをアルカリで中ちゅう和わした。
We neutralized the acid with an alkali.
アルカリに強つよい／弱よわいresistant to / vulnerable to alkali
このゴムはアルカリに強つよい。
This rubber is resistant to alkali.

Kanji

亜Asia, rank next, come after
爾you, thou, second person
加add, addition, increase
里ri, village, parent's home

Related words

塩えん基き
塩基 is the precise chemistry term for 'base', while アルカリ is the everyday word used for alkaline substances like cleaning products and batteries.

Opposites

酸さんN1
酸 (acid) is the direct chemical opposite of アルカリ (alkali) on the pH scale.

Don't confuse with

アルコールN4
アルカリ (alkali, a chemical base) and アルコール (alcohol, an organic compound) sound similar in Japanese but refer to completely different substances.

Written forms

アルカリUsage100%
Standard katakana spelling for this loanword; usually written in kana.
亜爾加里あるかり
ateji (phonetic kanji usage)rarely-used kanji form
Ateji spelling; rarely used and mainly of historical interest.

Etymology

From Dutch 'alkali', ultimately from Arabic al-qaly (the ashes, calcined ashes).