nitrile

Derived from benzonitrile which contains the −C≡N group. Benzonitrile was discovered and named by Hermann Fehling in 1844.

• IPA^(key): /ˈnaɪtɹaɪl/

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nitrile (countable and uncountable, plural nitriles)

1. (organic chemistry) Any of a class of organic compounds containing a cyano functional group −C≡N; they are named as derivatives of the appropriate carboxylic acid.
2. A type of synthetic rubber formed by the copolymerization of acrylonitrile and butadiene: nitrile rubber.
   • 2021, Ben Aaronovitch, What Abigail Did That Summer, Gollancz, page 96:

     Sitting in a box under my bed are the nitrile gloves that I bought to practise with my forensic kit.

• -tirelin, lintier

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• Homophones: nitrilent, nitriles

nitrile

1. inflection of nitriler:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

nitrile m (plural nitrili)

1. nitrile