What it means
ازت (azot) means nitrogen, the colorless, odorless gas that makes up about 78 percent of Earth’s atmosphere. Persian borrowed this word from the French azote, a term coined by Antoine Lavoisier in the late 18th century from Greek roots meaning without life, because nitrogen alone cannot sustain combustion or breathing. A close and now more widely used synonym is نیتروژن (nitrozhen), which reflects the international IUPAC name. In older Persian chemistry texts and some technical contexts, ازت remains the preferred form, but in modern educational settings and everyday speech نیتروژن is more common.
How to use it
- هوا بیشتر از ازت تشکیل شده است. (havâ bishtar az azot tashkil shode ast.) “Air is mostly made up of nitrogen.”
- ازت مایع در آزمایشگاه برای انجماد سریع استفاده میشود. (azot-e mâye’ dar âzmâyeshgâh barâye enjemâd-e sari’ estefâde mishavad.) “Liquid nitrogen is used in the laboratory for rapid freezing.”
- گیاهان برای رشد به ترکیبات ازت نیاز دارند. (giâhân barâye roshd be tarkibât-e azot niâz dârand.) “Plants need nitrogen compounds to grow.”
- چرخه ازت در طبیعت بسیار مهم است. (charkhe-ye azot dar tabi’at besyâr mohemm ast.) “The nitrogen cycle in nature is very important.”
Cultural note
The word ازت entered Persian through the French scientific tradition that heavily influenced Iranian education during the Qajar era, when the Dar al-Funun polytechnic college in Tehran adopted French-language curricula and textbooks. This legacy explains why several Persian chemistry terms follow French rather than English phonology. Today, university chemistry courses in Iran use نیتروژن more frequently, but ازت still appears in older reference works and some professional contexts, giving the language two coexisting terms for the same element.