Potash

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language

·noun The impure potassium carbonate obtained by leaching wood ashes, either as a strong solution (lye), or as a white crystalline (pearlash).

II. Potash ·noun The hydroxide of potassium hydrate, a hard white brittle substance, KOH, having strong caustic and alkaline properties;

— hence called also caustic potash.