Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “nitrogen” come from?

Nitrogen comes from French nitrogène, combining French nitre with the French suffix -gène meaning "producing," derived from Ancient Greek -γενής "producing" and Ancient Greek νίτρον "natron," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ǵenh₁- "to produce or beget."

nitrogen (English): The chemical element with an atomic number of 7...

Definitions

  1. The chemical element with an atomic number of 7...

Ancestry of “nitrogen”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchnitrogènenitrogen
2French-gène-gen, -genic
3Latin-genusborn from, sprung form
4Ancient Greek-γενήςborn in a certain place or condition; of a kind
5Ancient Greek-είᾱ—
6Ancient Greek-ήςadjective suffix
7Proto-Indo-European-ēsPrimarily forms adjectival bahuvrīhi compounds
8Proto-Indo-European-ess—
9Proto-Indo-European-osCreates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...

Words derived from “nitrogen”

  • nitrogenous
  • nitrogenase
  • dinitrogen
  • nonnitrogenous
  • dinitrogenase
  • isonitrogenous
  • organonitrogen
  • nonnitrogen
  • polynitrogen
  • nitrogenic
  • nitrogenize
  • nitrogenate
  • denitrogenate
  • nitrogenization
  • multinitrogen
  • antinitrogen
  • nitrogenlike
  • nitrian
  • nitrogenless
  • radionitrogen
  • nitrogeniferous
  • نيتروجين
  • nitrogen
  • نيتروݢن
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -os →