Ni"trous (?), a. [L. nitrosus full of natron: cf. F. nitreux. See Niter.]
1.
Of, pertaining to, or containing, niter; of the quality of niter, or resembling it.
2. Chem.
Of, pertaining to, or designating, any one of those compounds in which nitrogen has a relatively lower valence as contrasted with nitric compounds.
Nitrous acid Chem., a hypothetical acid of nitrogen HNO2, not known in the free state, but forming a well known series of salts, viz., the nitrites. -- Nitrous oxide. See Laughing gas.
© Webster 1913.