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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary ni·tro·gen \\ˈnī-trə-jən\\ noun USAGE often attributive ETYMOLOGY French nitrogène, from nitre niter + -gène -gen DATE 1794 : a colorless tasteless odorless element that as a diatomic gas is relatively inert and constitutes 78 percent of the atmosphere and that is a constituent of organic compounds found in all living tissues — see element table• ni·trog·e·nous \\nī-ˈträ-jə-nəs\\ adjective English Etymology nitrogen 1794, from Fr. nitrogène, coined 1790 by Fr. chemist Jean Antoine Chaptal (1756-1832), from comb. form of Gk. nitron"sodium carbonate" (from Egyptian ntr) + Fr. gène "producing." The gas was discovered in analysis of nitric acid. Earlier name (1772) was mephitic air. The word nitre was in use in late M.E. for "potassium nitrate, saltpetre" (c.1400). Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7 nitrogen ni·tro·gen / 5naitrEdVEn / noun[U] (symb N) a chemical element. Nitrogen is a gas that is found in large quantities in the earth's atmosphere. 氮；氮气 • ni·tro·gen·ous / nai5trCdVEnEs; NAmE -5trB:dV- / adj. Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged ni·tro·gen \ˈnī.trə̇jə̇n, -rēj-\ noun (-s) Etymology: French nitrogène, from nitr- + gène -gen a common nonmetallic element that in the free form is normally a colorless odorless tasteless insoluble inert diatomic gas comprising 78 percent of the atmosphere by volume, obtained industrially by fractional distillation of liquid air, and used chiefly as an inert atmosphere (as in industrial processes) and that in the combined form has a wide range of valences (as from -3 in ammonia to +5 in nitric acid and nitrates) and is a constituent of biologically important compounds (as proteins, nucleic acids, alkaloids) and hence of all living cells as well as of industrially important substances (as cyanides, fertilizers, dyes, antibiotics) — symbol N; see element table, nitrogen cycle, nitrogen fixation |
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