Nitrose

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to or containing nitrous compounds, especially nitrogen oxides or nitrous acid
2. Describing a chemical substance that includes nitrous oxide groups or nitrogen-oxide content
3. Of or pertaining to compounds that carry nitrogen in its lower-valent, nitrous form

Etymology: "Nitrose" is built from "nitro-", the combining form meaning "containing nitrogen" or "nitrogen-based", and the suffix "-ose", which in chemistry marks a compound of this kind. Put together, the word describes a substance linked to nitrogen, most often in the sense of nitrogen-containing chemical groups. The "nitro-" element comes from "nitre" (saltpetre), the mineral historically associated with nitrogen compounds, which is why chemists used it as the starting point for names of nitrogen-based substances. The suffix "-ose" was attached to form a descriptive term for a nitrogen compound, following the pattern of other chemical names.

Synonyms: nitrous