Dictionary entry

Caustic (2)

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Cau″stic, n. [L. causticum (sc. medicamentum). See Caustic, a.] 1. Any substance or means which, applied to animal or other organic tissue, burns, corrodes, or destroys it by chemical action; an escharotic.

2. (Optics) A caustic curve or caustic surface.