A colorless nonmetallic element, tasteless and odorless,
comprising four fifths of the atmosphere by volume. It is chemically
very inert in the free state, and as such is incapable of supporting
life (hence the name azote still used by French chemists); but it forms
many important compounds, as ammonia, nitric acid, the cyanides, etc,
and is a constituent of all organized living tissues, animal or
vegetable. Symbol N. Atomic weight 14. It was formerly regarded as a
permanent noncondensible gas, but was liquefied in 1877 by Cailletet of
Paris, and Pictet of Geneva.