Denitrification

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The microbial process by which nitrate is reduced and ultimately converted into nitrogen gas or nitrous oxide, removing bioavailable nitrogen from the soil or water; important in the nitrogen cycle and environmental nitrogen balance
2. A biological pathway in which bacteria convert nitrate into inert nitrogen gases, thus decreasing nitrate levels in ecosystems and preventing accumulation; a key step in nitrogen transformations
3. The conversion of nitrogen compounds such as nitrates into gaseous forms like nitrogen or nitrous oxide by microorganisms, reducing soil and water nitrate content through anaerobic respiration

Etymology: Denitrification is a modern scientific coinage, built in English from the prefix "de-" and "nitrification." The "de-" comes from Latin "dē," meaning "down," "away" or "reversing," which English uses to mean removal or undoing, as in "decontaminate" or "deforest." "Nitrification" is itself the process of bacteria converting ammonia into nitrates, so the new word names the opposite step: nitrates being broken back down into nitrogen gas. The word therefore describes a reversal, not a new substance. Soil microbes that turn nitrates into nitrogen gas are the reason nitrogen lost from farmland returns to the air, and the term gives that loss a precise name. Its formation follows ordinary English practice of attaching a reversing prefix to an existing technical term, so the word needs no special history beyond the two parts it joins.

Synonyms: nitrate reduction, nitrogen removal, nitrogen gas formation, anaerobic nitrate reduction, nitrogen loss

Antonyms: nitrification, nitrogen fixation, nitrogen assimilation, nitrate accumulation, nitrogen retention