Nitrifies

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The biochemical process involves the oxidation of ammonia, leading to the creation of nitrites and nitrates in soil for plant use
2. It refers to the microbial conversion of ammonia into nitrate forms, which is crucial for soil nutrient cycling
3. Changes ammonia in the environment into nitrate chemicals through microbial activity

Etymology: "Nitrifies" is the third-person singular present form of "nitrify," so its history is that of the verb itself. "Nitrify" is built from "nitre," the old name for potassium nitrate (saltpetre), which comes ultimately from Latin "nitrum," itself borrowed from Greek "nitron," a word for a natural alkaline salt. The "-fy" ending comes from Latin "-ficare" through Old French, and signals "to make into" or "to turn into," so "nitrify" literally means to turn something into nitre or nitrate. The verb's modern sense grew out of nineteenth-century chemistry. As scientists came to understand that soil bacteria convert ammonia into nitrates, the older chemical idea of making nitrates was applied to these biological processes. Soil scientists now use the verb for the two-step microbial oxidation that turns ammonium into nitrite and then into nitrate, which plants can absorb.

Synonyms: oxidizes, reacts, transforms

Antonyms: reduces, diminishes