"salt of citric acid," 1794, from French citrate; see citric + -ate (3).
Entries linking to citrate
citric adj.
"pertaining to or derived from citrons or lemons," 1800, from Modern Latin citricum (in acidum citricum "citric acid," discovered by German chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele in 1784); see citrus + -ic. The classical adjective was citreus.
-ate 3
in chemistry, word-forming element used to form the names of salts from acids in -ic; from Latin -atus, -atum, suffix used in forming adjectives and thence nouns; identical with -ate (1).
The substance formed, for example, by the action of acetic acid (vinegar) on lead was described in the 18th century as plumbum acetatum, i.e. acetated lead. Acetatum was then taken as a noun meaning "the acetated (product)," i.e. acetate. [W.E. Flood, "The Origins of Chemical Names," London, 1963]