# potash

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈpɒt.æʃ/ · frequency rank #36,714

## Definitions
1. The water-soluble part of wood ash, used for making soap and glass and as a fertilizer (chemically speaking, an impure form of potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃) mixed with other potassium salts).
2. Potassium. Chiefly used in the names of compounds of the form "... of potash".
3. A class of potassium minerals, of similar applicability to potassium carbonate, such as being a fertilizer. (ie. potassium chloride, potassium hydroxide)

## Etymology
From pot + ash, because the substance was originally obtained by leaching ash in water and then boiling down the resulting solution in a pot. Compare Dutch potas, German Pottasche.

## Easily confused with
- **pots** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/potash-vs-pots)
- **POTUS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/potash-vs-potus)
- **potato** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/potash-vs-potato)
- **posh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/posh-vs-potash)
- **poach** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poach-vs-potash)
- **Polish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/polish-vs-potash)

## Common misspellings (9)
`optash`, `poatsh`, `potahs`, `potashh`, `potassh`, `potsah`, `pottash`, `ppotash`, `ptoash`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/potash