nitrogen

See also: Nitrogen and nitrogén

English

Chemical element
N
Previous: carbon (C)
Next: oxygen (O)

Etymology

Borrowed from French nitrogène (coined by French chemist and statesman Jean-Antoine Chaptal in 1790). By surface analysis, nitro- +‎ -gen. See also niter.

Pronunciation

• enPR: nī′trə-jən, IPA^(key): /ˈnaɪ.tɹə.d͡ʒən/, [ˈnɐɪ.t͡ʃʰɹə.d͡ʒən]

  Audio (US):

  (file)

• (Canada, Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈnʌɪ.tɹə.d͡ʒən/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈnɑɪ.tɹə.d͡ʒən/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈnəi.tɹə.d͡ʒən/
• (India) IPA^(key): /ˈnaj.ʈɾo.d͡ʒen/
• Rhymes: -aɪtɹəd͡ʒən
• Hyphenation: ni‧tro‧gen

Noun

nitrogen (countable and uncountable, plural nitrogens)

2. (uncountable) The chemical element (symbol N) with an atomic number of 7 and atomic weight of 14.0067. It is a colorless and odorless gas.
   • 2006, Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma, The Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 42:

     All life depends on nitrogen; it is the building block from which nature assembles amino acids, proteins, and nucleic acids; the genetic information that orders and perpetuates life is written in nitrogen ink.

3. (uncountable) Molecular nitrogen (N₂), a colorless, odorless gas at room temperature.
   • 1997, A. J. Taylor, D. S. Mothram, editors, Flavour Science: Recent Developments‎^[1], Elsevier, →ISBN, page 63:

     Volatiles of kecap manis and its raw materials were extracted using Likens-Nickerson apparatus with diethyl ether as the extraction solvent. The extracts were then dried with anhydrous sodium sulfate, concentrated using a rotary evaporator followed by flushing using nitrogen until the volume was about 0.5 ml.

4. (countable) A specific nitrogen atom within a chemical formula, or a specific isotope of nitrogen.

   The two nitrogens are located next to one another on the ring.

Synonyms

• azote (obsolete)
• E941 when used as a packaging gas or propellant

Derived terms

• carbon-nitrogen cycle
• carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycle
• dinitrogen
• lean nitrogen oxide trap
• liquid nitrogen
• nitragin
• nitrogen-13
• nitrogen-14
• nitrogen-15
• nitrogenase
• nitrogenate
• nitrogen balance
• nitrogen cycle
• nitrogen dioxide
• nitrogen fixation
• nitrogen fixer
• nitrogen fixing
• nitrogen-fixing
• nitrogenic
• nitrogen ice
• nitrogeniferous
• nitrogen inversion
• nitrogenise, nitrogenize
• nitrogen monoxide
• nitrogen mustard
• nitrogen narcosis
• nitrogenous
• nitrogen oxide
• nitrogen pentoxide
• nitrogen tetroxide
• nitrogen tribromide
• nitrogen trichloride
• nitrogen trifluoride
• nitrogen triiodide
• nitrophilous
• nitrox

Related terms

• niter, nitre
• nitrate
• nitric
• nitride
• nitrification
• nitrify
• nitrite
• nitr-, nitro-
• nitrous

Translations

chemical element

• Afrikaans: stikstof (af)
• Albanian: azot (sq) m, nitrogjenit m
• Amharic: ናይትሮጅን (naytəroǧn)
• Arabic: نِيتْرُوجِين m (nitrōžēn), نِيتْرُوجِين m (nitrojīn), آزُوت m (ʔāzūt)
• Armenian: ազոտ (hy) (azot)
• Asturian: nitróxenu (ast) m
• Azerbaijani: azot (az)
• Basque: nitrogenoa
• Bavarian: Stickstoff
• Belarusian: азо́т m (azót)
• Bengali: যবক্ষারজান (bn) (jobokkharjan)
• Breton: nitrogen m, azot ?
• Bulgarian: азо́т (bg) m (azót)
• Burmese: နိုက်ထရိုဂျင် (nuikhta.ruigyang)
• Catalan: nitrogen (ca) m
• Cherokee: ᎾᎢᏠᏤᏂ (naitlotseni)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 氮 (daam⁶), (as a gas) 氮氣 / 氮气 (daam⁶ hei³)

  Hakka: 氮 (tham)

  Hokkien: 氮 (tām), 窒素 (chek-sò͘, chit-sò͘), 氮氣 / 氮气 (tām-khì) (as a gas)

  Mandarin: 氮 (zh) (dàn), (as a gas) 氮氣 / 氮气 (zh) (dànqì)

• Chuvash: азот (azot)
• Cornish: nytrojen ?
• Corsican: azotu (co) m
• Czech: dusík (cs) m
• Danish: nitrogen (da) n, kvælstof (da) n
• Dutch: stikstof (nl) f
• Esperanto: azoto, nitrogeno (eo)
• Estonian: lämmastik (et)
• Farefare: tẽgɛ-walʋm
• Faroese: køvievni n
• Finnish: typpi (fi)
• French: azote (fr) m
• Friulian: azôt m, nitrogjen m
• Galician: nitróxeno (gl) m, azote (gl) m
• Georgian: აზოტი (ka) (azoṭi)
• German: Stickstoff (de) m

  Central Franconian: Stickstoff

• Greek: άζωτο (el) n (ázoto)
• Greenlandic: kvælstoffi
• Gujarati: નત્રલવાયુ (natralvāyu)
• Haitian Creole: azòt
• Hawaiian: naikokene
• Hebrew: חַנְקָן (he) m (khankan)
• Hindi: भूयाति f (bhūyāti), नाइट्रोजन m (nāiṭrojan)
• Hungarian: nitrogén (hu)
• Icelandic: köfnunarefni (is) n, nitur (is) n
• Ido: nitro (io)
• Indonesian: nitrogen (id), (dated) zat lemas (id) (literally “to suffocate + matter”)
• Interlingua: nitrogeno
• Irish: nítrigin (ga) f
• Italian: azoto (it) m
• Japanese: 窒素 (ja) (ちっそ, chisso)
• Javanese: nitrogen
• Kalmyk: шүтөр (şütör)
• Kannada: ಸಾರಜನಕ (kn) (sārajanaka)
• Kapampangan: nitrogen
• Kashubian: tãcheń m
• Kazakh: азот (kk) (azot)
• Khmer: អាសូត (aazoot)
• Korean: 질소(窒素) (ko) (jilso)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: nîtrojen (ku)

• Kyrgyz: азот (ky) (azot)
• Lao: ໄນໂຕຣເຈນ (nai tōn chēn)
• Latin: nitrogenium (la) n
• Latvian: slāpeklis (lv) m
• Limburgish: stikstof ?
• Lingala: azoti
• Lithuanian: azotas (lt) m
• Low German: stickstoff ?

  German Low German: stickstoff ?

• Luxembourgish: Stéckstoff (lb) m
• Macedonian: азот (mk) m (azot)
• Malay: nitrogen (ms), zat lemas
• Malayalam: പാക്യജനകം (ml) (pākyajanakaṁ), നൈട്രജൻ (ml) (naiṭrajaṉ)
• Maltese: nitroġenu, ażotu (mt)
• Manx: neetrageen m
• Maori: hauota
• Marathi: नायट्रोजन ? (nāyaṭrojan), नत्रवायू ? (natravāyū)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: азот (mn) (azot)

  Mongolian: ᠠᠽᠣᠲ (azot)

• Nahuatl: ehēcatehuiltic
• North Frisian: stikstuf ?
• Northern Sami: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nitrogen (no) n, kvelstoff (no) n (obsolete)

  Norwegian Nynorsk: nitrogen (nn) n, kvelstoff n, kvæve ?

• Occitan: azòt (oc) m
• Odia: ଯବକ୍ଷାରଜାନ (or) (jabakshārajāna)
• Pashto: نايتروجن m (nāytroǰán), آزوت (ps) m (āzǔt)
• Persian: نیتروژن (fa) (nitrožen), ازت (fa) (azot)
• Plautdietsch: Stäakjstoff n
• Polish: azot (pl) m
• Portuguese: azoto (pt) m

  Brazilian: nitrogênio (pt) m

  European: nitrogénio (pt) m

• Punjabi: ਨਾਈਟ੍ਰੋਜਨ ? (nāīṭrojan)
• Quechua: qullpachaq, qullpachaq
• Romanian: azot (ro) n
• Russian: азо́т (ru) m (azót)
• Samogitian: azuots
• Sanskrit: नैट्रोजन् ? (naiṭrojan)
• Saterland Frisian: Stikstof ?
• Scottish Gaelic: naitridean m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: а̀зот m (Montenegro, Serbia), ду̀шӣк m (Croatia), nȉtrogēn (sh) m

  Roman: àzot (sh) m (Montenegro, Serbia), dùšīk (sh) m (Croatia), ни̏троге̄н m

• Sicilian: azzotu (scn) ?
• Sinhalese: නයිට්‍රජන් (nayiṭrajan), ජීවාන්තක (si) (jīwāntaka)
• Slovak: dusík (sk) m
• Slovene: dušik (sl) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: dušyk m

  Upper Sorbian: dusyk m

• Spanish: nitrógeno (es) m
• Swahili: nitrojeni
• Swedish: kväve (sv) n, nitrogen (sv) n
• Tagalog: nitroheno
• Tajik: азот (azot)
• Tamil: ருசரகம் (ta) (rucarakam), நைட்ரஜன் (naiṭrajaṉ)
• Telugu: నత్రజని (te) (natrajani)
• Thai: ไนโตรเจน (th) (nai-dtroo-jeen)
• Tibetan: ཟེ་རླུང (ze rlung)
• Turkish: azot (tr), nitrojen (tr)
• Turkmen: azot (tk)
• Ukrainian: азо́т (uk) m (azót)
• Urdu: نائٹروجن m (nāiṭrojan)
• Uyghur: ئازوت (azot)
• Uzbek: azot (uz)

  Cyrillic: азот (uz) (azot)

• Vietnamese: nitơ (vi), đạm khí
• Welsh: nitrogen (cy) m, blorai m
• West Frisian: stikstof ?
• Yiddish: אַזאָט m (azot), שטיקשטאָף m (shtikshtof)

See also

• aqua fortis
• aqua regia
• laughing gas
• saltpeter, saltpetre

References

• Nitrogen on the British Royal Society of Chemistry's online periodic table

Anagrams

• ringtone, Notinger, ring tone, retoning, integron

Catalan

Chemical element
N
Previous: carboni (C)
Next: oxigen (O)

Etymology

Borrowed from French nitrogène.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [niˈtɾɔ.ʒən]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [niˈtɾɔ.d͡ʒen]

• Audio (Valencia):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ni‧trò‧gen

Noun

nitrogen m (uncountable)

1. nitrogen (chemical element)

   Synonym: azot

Further reading

• “nitrogen” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “nitrogen”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “nitrogen” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “nitrogen” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Danish

Chemical element
N
Previous: carbon (C)
Next: ilt (O)

Etymology

Derived from French nitrogène. By surface analysis, nitro- +‎ -gen. See also nitrat.

Noun

nitrogen n (singular definite nitrogenet or nitrogenen, not used in plural form)

1. nitrogen (chemical element)

   Synonym: kvælstof

Declension

Declension of nitrogen

neuter gender	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	nitrogen	nitrogenet nitrogenen
genitive	nitrogens	nitrogenets nitrogenens

References

• “nitrogen” in Den Danske Ordbog

Indonesian

Chemical element
N
Previous: karbon (C)
Next: oksigen (O)

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch nitrogeen, from French nitrogène.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /niˈtrɔɡɛn/ [niˈt̪rɔ.ɡɛn]
• Syllabification: ni‧tro‧gen

Noun

nitrogen

1. nitrogen (chemical element)

   Synonym: (dated) zat lemas

Derived terms

• bernitrogen (“containing nitrogen”)

Compounds

• nitrogen dioksida (“nitrogen dioxide”)

Further reading

• nitrogen on the Indonesian Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^id
• “nitrogen” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Malay

Chemical element
N
Previous: karbon (C)
Next: oksigen (O)

Etymology

Derived from English nitrogen, derived from French nitrogène.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni.tro.ɡən/
• Rhymes: -ən
• Hyphenation: ni‧tro‧gen

Noun

nitrogen (Jawi spelling نيتروݢن)

1. nitrogen (chemical element)

   Synonym: zat lemas / ذات لمس

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

nitrogen n (definite singular nitrogenet, indefinite plural nitrogen, definite plural nitrogena or nitrogenene)

1. nitrogen (chemical element; symbol N).

Derived terms

• nitrogendioksid
• nitrogenholdig
• nitrogenoksid

References

• “nitrogen” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

nitrogen n (definite singular nitrogenet) (uncountable)

1. nitrogen (chemical element; symbol N).

Derived terms

• nitrogendioksid
• nitrogenoksid

References

• “nitrogen” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Romanian

Chemical element
N
Previous: carbon (C)
Next: oxigen (O)

Etymology

Borrowed from French nitrogène.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌni.troˈd͡ʒen/
• Rhymes: -en
• Hyphenation: ni‧tro‧gen

Noun

nitrogen m (uncountable)

1. nitrogen (chemical element)

   Synonym: azot

Declension

Declension of nitrogen

singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	nitrogen	nitrogenul
genitive-dative	nitrogen	nitrogenului
vocative	nitrogenule

References

• “nitrogen”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

Welsh

Chemical element
N
Previous: carbon (C)
Next: ocsigen (O)

Etymology

Borrowed from English nitrogen, from French nitrogène, from French nitre, from Latin nitrum (“niter, natron”), from Ancient Greek νίτρον (nítron), ultimately from Egyptian nṯrj (“natron”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɪ.trɔˌɡɛn/
• Rhymes: -ɪtrɔɡɛn
• Hyphenation: ni‧tro‧gen

Noun

nitrogen m (uncountable, not mutable)

1. nitrogen (chemical element)

   Synonyms: blawrbar, blorai, blornwy, trengnwy

Derived terms

• cyfansoddyn nitrogen (“nitrogen compound”)
• cylchred nitrogen (“nitrogen cycle”)
• dadansoddiad isotop nitrogen (“nitrogen isotope analysis”)
• dyddio nitrogen (“nitrogen dating”)
• nitrogen anorganig (“inorganic nitrogen”)
• nitrogen deuocsid (“nitrogen dioxide”)
• nitrogen maethol (“nutrient nitrogen”)
• nitrogen monocsid (“nitrogen monoxide”)
• nitrogen ocsid (“nitrogen oxide”)
• nitrogen organig (“organic nitrogen”)
• nitrogenaidd (“nitrogenous”)
• sefydlogiad nitrogen (“nitrogen fixation”)

References

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “nitrogen”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies