overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

gunpowder.

An explosive mixture of saltpetre (potassium nitrate), charcoal and sulfur; formerly used in gunnery but now mostly used in fireworks.

9 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈɡʌnˌpaʊdə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɡʌnˌpaʊdɚ/General-American/ˈɡʊnˌpaʊdə/Northern-England/ˈɡʌnˌpʌʊdəɾ/Scotland

  1. An explosive mixture of saltpetre (potassium nitrate), charcoal and sulfur; formerly used in gunnery but now mostly used in fireworks.

    countable · uncountable

  2. Ellipsis of gunpowder tea.

    abbreviation · alt-of · countable · ellipsis · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰéntis Proto-Germanic *gunþiz Old Norse gunnr Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂-der. Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂tís Proto-Germanic *hildiz Old Norse hildr Old Norse Gunnhildrder. Middle English gunne English gun English powder English gunpowder From gun + powder.

verb/ˈɡʌnˌpaʊdə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɡʌnˌpaʊdɚ/General-American/ˈɡʊnˌpaʊdə/Northern-England/ˈɡʌnˌpʌʊdəɾ/Scotland

  1. To destroy with gunpowder.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰéntis Proto-Germanic *gunþiz Old Norse gunnr Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂-der. Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂tís Proto-Germanic *hildiz Old Norse hildr Old Norse Gunnhildrder. Middle English gunne English gun English powder English gunpowder From gun + powder.

noun/ˈɡʌnˌpaʊdə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɡʌnˌpaʊdɚ/General-American/ˈɡʊnˌpaʊdə/Northern-England/ˈɡʌnˌpʌʊdəɾ/Scotland

  1. Idli podi/milagai podi; ground-up dry spices mixed with oil and ghee and served alongside idli or dosa.

    India · informal · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Possibly due to its smell resembling gunpowder during the British Raj.

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

gunpowder has 9 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

gunpowder studiogunpowder workshello, gunpowder

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.