nitrification

[ nahy-truh-fi-key-shuhn ]

/ ˌnaɪ trə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən /

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noun Chemistry, Biology.

the process of oxidation in the nitrogen cycle that converts ammonia or ammonium compounds to nitrites and then to nitrates, especially this process as facilitated by bacteria and other microbes in soil to provide the nitrogen vital to plant health and growth.

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Origin of nitrification

First recorded in 1820–30; nitr- + -i- + -fication

Words nearby nitrification

nitric bacteria, nitric oxide, nitride, nitriding, nitriding steel, nitrification, nitrifier, nitrify, nitrifying bacteria, nitrile, nitrile rubber

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use nitrification in a sentence

He also showed that metabiosis played an important part in nitrification.
Makers of British Botany; a collection of biographies by living botanists|Various
No substance is so favourable to nitrification as the natural stony concretion known under the name of lime-tuf.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines|Andrew Ure
The presence of moisture in the soil is necessary for the process of nitrification to take place.
The First Book of Farming|Charles L. Goodrich
It undergoes nitrification readily and is a quick acting organic source of nitrogen and phosphoric acid.
The First Book of Farming|Charles L. Goodrich

This explanation will be understood in the light of what we have already described in regard to "nitrification."
Scientific American Supplement, No. 467, December 13, 1884|Various

British Dictionary definitions for nitrification

nitrification

/ (ˌnaɪtrɪfɪˈkeɪʃən) /

noun

the oxidation of the ammonium compounds in dead organic material into nitrites and nitrates by soil nitrobacteria, making nitrogen available to plantsSee also nitrogen cycle

the addition of a nitro group to an organic compound
the substitution of a nitro group for another group in an organic compound

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for nitrification

nitrification

[ nī′trə-fĭ-kā′shən ]

The process by which bacteria in soil and water oxidize ammonia and ammonium ions and form nitrites and nitrates. Because the nitrates can be absorbed by more complex organisms, as by the roots of green plants, nitrification is an important step in the nitrogen cycle.