bittern

name

1. A town in the Shire of Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia

noun

Etymology: From bitter with an unclear suffix, perhaps a dialect form of -ing.

1. The liquor remaining after halite (common salt) has been harvested from saline water (brine).
2. The saline substance added to soy milk to coagulate it as a primary step in the production of tofu.

   “Now we add the bittern.”

3. A very bitter compound of quassia, cocculus indicus, etc., used by fraudulent brewers in adulterating beer.