kali

noun

1. (uncountable)The prickly glasswort (Kali turgidum, syn. of Salsola kali).

   “But the kali is principally regarded, on account of its yielding copiously, when burnt, the fixed alkaline salt called soda[…]”

2. (uncountable)Alkali, particularly soda ash or potash.
3. (uncountable)Traditional Philippine stick fighting, a martial art.
4. (uncountable)A type of British crystalline sweet or candy, similar in appearance to sherbet but made with larger sugar crystals.

   “[M]any women will be glad to know exactly how to start making sweets so that they will be saleable. [...] Lozenges, comfits, kali, bonbons, etc.”

   “The stock is supplied by Sela Traditional Sweet Co., based in Thynne Street, West Bromwich, which has been making a vast range of boiled sweets—sarsaparilla tablets, kali, clove balls, lime juice bricks, rosy apples and the rest—since 1882.”

   “A positive shower of sherbets. Include fountains, lemons, dibdabs, flying saucers, even jars of Kali.”

name

1. (Hinduism)A goddess in Hinduism, one of the most significant figures within that religion, who destroys evil forces and bestows liberation.

   “Kālī is Śiva's "other" wife, as it were, provoking him and encouraging him in his mad, antisocial, often disruptive habits. It is never Kālī who tames Śiva but Śiva who must becalm Kālī.”

   “To many Hindu Bengalis, Kālī is the most important divinity. Identified with the great Goddess, Devi Bhagavati, she subsumes all other goddesses.”

   “A popular form of Kali worshiped in Calcutta is Adya Shakti Kali, or Kali as primordial power. Adya Shakti Kali is also present in some tantras, especially the Mahanirvana Tantra. Because she devours Kala or Time, she is Kali, the original form of all things, and because she is the origin and devourer of all things, she is called Adya Kali.”

2. A female given name from Sanskrit used especially in India.
3. (Hinduism)A male demon, lord of Kali Yuga and the nemesis of Kalki, tenth avatar of Vishnu.
4. A potassium salt.