Emily Dickinson Lexicon

POW'DER, n. [Fr. poudre, contracted from pouldre; Arm. poultra; It. polvere; Sp. polvo; L. pulvis. The G. has puder, and the D. poeder, but whether from the same source I know not. Pulvis is probably from pulso, pulto, to beat.]

1. Any dry substance composed of minute particles, whether natural or artificial; more generally, a substance comminuted or triturated to fine particles. Thus dust is the powder of earth; flour is the powder of grain. But the word is particularly applied to substances reduced to fine particles for medicinal purposes.
2. A composition of saltpeter, sulphur and charcoal, mixed and granulated; gunpowder.
3. Hair-powder; pulverized starch.