Word
ammonia
Phoneticsam·mo·nia
US/əˈmoʊnjə/
UK/æmˈəʊniə/
Definitions
01chemical compound
n. a gas with a very strong, sharp smell that is made of nitrogen and hydrogen.
n. a colourless, pungent gaseous compound of hydrogen and nitrogen (NH₃) that is highly soluble in water.
“The factory uses ammonia to produce fertilizers for large farms.”
“Ammonia plays a critical role in the nitrogen cycle and is synthesized industrially via the Haber-Bosch process for use in agricultural fertilizers.”
Technical
Usage
Uncountable when referring to the chemical substance in general; countable when referring to specific types or solutions in a laboratory context.
02cleaning liquid
n. a liquid cleaning product that contains ammonia, used for tough jobs like cleaning glass or floors.
n. an aqueous solution of ammonia used as a domestic or industrial cleaning agent due to its alkaline properties.
“You should wear gloves when using ammonia to clean the kitchen floor.”
“The janitor used a diluted solution of ammonia to strip the old wax from the linoleum before applying a fresh coat.”
Teaching tip
Learners should be warned never to mix ammonia with bleach, as it creates toxic fumes.
Synonyms
Real-World Examples
“The six radiators on the International Space Station, which use ammonia as a coolant, have a combined mass of just over 6 metric tons.” “The creature comes from an extremely hot world with an atmosphere saturated with ammonia.” Etymology
Etymology tree Egyptian jmnbor. Ancient Greek Ᾰ̓́μμων (Ắmmōn)bor. Latin Ammōn Latin ammoniacusder. English ammonia From Latin sal ammoniacus (“salt of Amun, ammonium chloride”), named so because it was found near the temple of (Jupiter) Ammon in Egypt. Ammon derives from Ancient Greek Ἄμμων (Ámmōn), from Egyptian jmn (i-mn:n-A4).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/ammonia