ammonia

IPA/əˈməʊniə/
KK[əmˈonjə]IPA/əˈməʊniə/

ammonia — noun

1. a colourless chemical (formula NH3, with one nitrogen atom joined to three hydro

1.nounC1
Definition

a colourless chemical (formula NH3, with one nitrogen atom joined to three hydrogen atoms) that has a sharp, choking smell; factories use it to produce fertilisers for crops, and a weak version mixed into water is sold for cleaning kitchens and bathrooms.

Example

Mr. Lin opened the bottle and the sharp smell of ammonia made his eyes water.

collocation: smell of ammonia

Most farmers in the valley use fertilisers made from ammonia to grow rice and corn.

collocation: fertilisers made from ammonia

Common collocations
  • ammonia smell
  • ammonia solution
  • household ammonia
  • smell of ammonia
  • release ammonia
Synonyms
  • NH3

    the chemical formula; used in scientific writing

  • ammonium hydroxide

    specifically the water solution sold as a cleaner

Usage Note

Uncountable; takes no article in general statements ("Ammonia smells terrible") but takes an article when referring to a specific liquid product ("a bottle of ammonia"). Frequently used as a modifier before another noun: ammonia smell, ammonia solution, ammonia gas.

Common Mistakes

I bought two ammonias for the kitchen.
I bought two bottles of ammonia for the kitchen.
ammonia is uncountable; quantify with 'bottle of', 'litre of', etc.

Word family

  • ammoniac
    adjective
  • ammonium
    noun

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Ammonia is the pure nitrogen-hydrogen compound (NH3), normally a gas at room temperature with a sharp, choking smell. Ammonium hydroxide is what you get when ammonia gas dissolves in water; the cloudy liquid sold in supermarkets as 'household ammonia' is really a weak ammonium hydroxide solution, used to clean glass, ovens, and floors. Bleach (sodium hypochlorite) is a different cleaning chemical altogether — it whitens fabric and kills germs, but it must never be mixed with ammonia, because the reaction gives off a poisonous gas. So in everyday Taiwanese homes, you might say 'I cleaned the window with ammonia' (meaning the diluted liquid) and 'I soaked my white shirt in bleach' (meaning the whitening agent).

ammonia ↗ammonium hydroxidebleach ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • ammonia smell
  • ammonia gas
  • ammonia solution
  • ammonia level
  • ammonia poisoning

Phrases

  • smell of ammonia
  • release ammonia
  • household ammonia

Prepositions

  • of ammonia
  • with ammonia

Etymology

Egyptian (Ammon)GreekLatinEnglish

Ammonia entered English in the late 1700s through scientific Latin, where chemists named the gas 'sal ammoniacus' after a salt found near the temple of the Egyptian god Ammon, in Libya. Ancient writers had recorded that worshippers and camel drivers gathered a white crystalline substance from the temple grounds; the gas later isolated from that salt was named in its honour. The Greek root 'ammōniakos' means 'belonging to Ammon'.