nitrogen

[nahy-truh-juh n]

noun Chemistry.

a colorless, odorless, gaseous element that constitutes about four-fifths of the volume of the atmosphere and is present in combined form in animal and vegetable tissues, especially in proteins: used chiefly in the manufacture of ammonia, nitric acid, cyanide, explosives, fertilizer, dyes, as a cooling agent, etc. Symbol: N; atomic weight: 14.0067; atomic number: 7; density: 1.2506 g/l at 0°C and 760 mm pressure.

Origin of nitrogen

From the French word nitrogène, dating back to 1785–95. See nitro-, -gen

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for nitrogen

Contemporary Examples of nitrogen

Grosvenor Place, which runs alongside the palace, has almost four times the maximum permissible amount of nitrogen dioxide.
Pollution At The Palace
Tom Sykes
February 24, 2014

Historical Examples of nitrogen

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria also add to the stores of nitrogen compounds.
The Enclosures in England
Harriett Bradley
However, what odds how you take your carbon and nitrogen and oxygen, as long as you DO get it?
The Stark Munro Letters
J. Stark Munro
Nitrogen will not burn and it will not help anything else to burn.
Common Science
Carleton W. Washburne
So it is well for us that air is only a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, and not a compound.
Common Science
Carleton W. Washburne
He was the discoverer of nitrogen and several gaseous bodies.
Prairie Farmer, Vol. 56: No. 3, January 19, 1884.
Various

British Dictionary definitions for nitrogen

nitrogen

noun

1. a colourless odourless relatively unreactive gaseous element that forms 78 per cent (by volume) of the air, occurs in many compounds, and is an essential constituent of proteins and nucleic acids: used in the manufacture of ammonia and other chemicals and as a refrigerant. Symbol: N; atomic no: 7; atomic wt: 14.00674; valency: 3 or 5; density: 1/2506 kg/m³; melting pt: –210.00°C; boiling pt: –195.8°C
2. (as modifier)nitrogen cycle

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

Word Origin and History for nitrogen

1794, from French nitrogène, coined 1790 by French chemist Jean Antoine Chaptal (1756-1832), from comb. form of Greek nitron "sodium carbonate" (see nitro-) + French gène "producing," from Greek -gen "giving birth to" (see -gen). The gas was identified in part by analysis of nitre. Earlier name (1772) was mephitic air, and Lavoisier called it azote (see azo-).

nitrogen in Medicine

nitrogen

[nī′trə-jən]

n. Symbol N

A nonmetallic element that constitutes nearly four fifths of the air by volume, occurring as a colorless, odorless, almost inert diatomic gas, N2, in various minerals and in all proteins. Atomic number 7.

nitrogen in Science

nitrogen

[nī′trə-jən]

A nonmetallic element that makes up about 78 percent of the atmosphere by volume, occurring as a colorless, odorless gas. It is a component of all proteins, making it essential for life, and it is also found in various minerals. Nitrogen is used to make ammonia, nitric acid, TNT, and fertilizers. Atomic number 7; atomic weight 14.0067; melting point -209.86°C; boiling point -195.8°C; valence 3, 5. See Periodic Table. See Note at oxygen.

nitrogen in Culture

nitrogen

A chemical element that makes up about four-fifths of the atmosphere of the Earth. Its symbol is N.

Note

Like carbon, nitrogen is a necessary element in the tissues of living things.