Definition of "saponaceous" []

• Having the qualities of soap. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The Natives of India profess to have found an antidote to, and cure for, hydrophobia in the reetah [7] berry, described as a saponaceous nut."
• "The word "saponaceous" necessarily elicited a bitter retort from Bishop Wilberforce; but perhaps the most valuable judgment on the whole matter was rendered by Bishop Tait, who declared, "These things have so effectually frightened the clergy that I think there is scarcely a bishop on the bench, unless it be the Bishop of St. David's [Thirlwall], that is not useless for the purpose of preventing the widespread alienation of intelligent men.""
• "Caustic potash, as we already observed, acts on the skin, and animal fibre, in virtue of its attraction for water and oil, and converts all animal matter into a kind of saponaceous jelly."