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Glite Dictionary
nitrous acid

nitrous acid

7.6
A weak unstable acid that exists only in water or salts and helps in chemical reactions
  • noun
  • /ˈnaɪtrəs ˈæsɪd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : ácido nitroso
  • Dilute nitrous acid quickly decomposes, making it difficult to isolate as a pure substance.

Examples

  • In organic synthesis, nitrous acid is often prepared in situ for diazotization reactions.

  • Exposure to sunlight accelerates the breakdown of nitrous acid in aqueous solutions.

  • The laboratory synthesized nitrous acid for the experiment.

  • Can you explain how nitrous acid is produced?

  • In chemical reactions, dilute nitrous acid can act as a reagent for forming nitrites.

  • The solution of nitrous acid must be handled with care due to its instability.

  • Scientists often generate nitrous acid in the lab to study its properties.

Surface Forms

nitrous acid singular
nitrous acids plural

Morphology

nitrous + acid

The term is directly compositional: 'nitrous' means related to nitrogen and 'acid' denotes a chemical acid, so 'nitrous acid' denotes an acid containing nitrogen (HNO₂). The adjectival-noun chemical naming pattern is cross-linguistically common (e.g. 'ácido nitroso', 'acide nitreux', 'nitric/nitroso' constructions), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent meanings can reasonably infer the MWE's meaning, though it is technical vocabulary.

Etymology

Nitrous acid gets its name from the old word nitre, a salt known to early chemists. The adjective nitrous was used to mean a 'weaker' form compared with nitric, so nitrous acid points to the weaker nitrogen acid that often breaks down quickly and is found only in solution.