A word coined in the 19th century from skāb(t) (“to go sour”) + -e, first attested in dictionaries of that time. In the 1850s, K. Valdemārs tried to use the term skābums in the sense of “acid,” but without success: skābe became the standard term for this sense.
skābe f (5th declension)
- (chemistry) acid (a sour substance that reacts with a base to produce a salt)
- stipra, vāja skābe — strong, weak acid
- organiskā skābe — organic acid
- skābju savienojumi — acid compounds
- skābekli saturošas skābes — oxygen-containing acids