nitrate

Etymology

It is borrowed from French nitrate,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} a term of Guyton de Morveau's chemical nomenclature of 1787,^[2][7] formed from nitr-, as in nitrique (“nitric”), and the suffix -ate,^[2][3][8] perhaps after Italian nitrato (“a salt of nitric acid”), recorded from before 1730.^[2] Etymonline also allows New Latin nitratum or an English formation with -ate.^[7] The stem is that of French nitre, from Latin nitrum (“native soda, natron”), from Ancient Greek νίτρον (nítron),^[7][1] which Etymonline thinks possibly of Eastern origin.^[7] The OED compares nitrātus (“mixed with natron”).^[2] The verb, from 1872, is formed in English from the same stem, probably after the adjective nitrated; compare nitrater (1878).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A salt of nitric acid: 1788, in J. St John's English translation of the chemical nomenclature of Guyton de Morveau and his colleagues.^[2][3][8] Etymonline dates the word to 1794,^[7] Dictionary.com to 1785–95.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The word began as a name in the new chemical nomenclature, both alone and in phrases such as nitrate of potash, with the combining element after of (1788);^[2] the modern order, as in ammonium nitrate, is recorded from 1863.^[2] From the mid-19th century it also named nitrates used as fertilizer,^[2][5] and silver nitrate used in photographic development.^[5] In the 20th century it was used for cellulose nitrate, the base of early cinema film, as in nitrate film (1925).^[2][5] The verb at first meant to treat or combine with nitric acid, and now chiefly to introduce a nitro group into a compound.^[2]

Timeline

• 1788 – a salt of nitric acid, also in names such as nitrate of ammonia.^[2][3]
• 1846 – a nitrate used as a fertilizer.^[2]
• 1863 – in names with the element first, such as potassium nitrate.^[2]
• 1872 – verb, to treat or combine with nitric acid.^[2]
• 1925 – cellulose nitrate as a film base, as in nitrate film.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A salt or ester of nitric acid; the ion NO₃⁻.^{[2][3][10][8]}
2. Sodium or potassium nitrate used as a fertilizer.^{[3][10][11][8]}
3. Cellulose nitrate, formerly used as the base of cinematographic film.^[2][3][5]

Verb

1. To treat or combine with nitric acid or a nitrate.^[3][10][11]
2. To introduce a nitro group into a compound; to convert into a nitro compound or a nitrate: The chemist nitrated the benzene with a mixture of acids.^[2][3][10]

Word family

• nitration
• nitrator
• denitrate
• subnitrate
• ammonium nitrate

Related words

• nitre
• nitric
• nitrite
• nitrogen
• natron

Usage notes

The OED's first edition (1907) gave the noun with a reduced second vowel, /ˈnaɪtrət/,^[2] and Merriam-Webster still lists such a variant beside the usual /ˈnaɪˌtreɪt/.^[3][8]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin