nitric acid

noun

"nitric-acid" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“nitric acid” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A transparent, colorless to pale yellow, fuming corrosive liquid, HNO₃; a highly reactive oxidizing agent used in the production of fertilizers, explosives, and rocket fuels and in a wide variety o...

Key facts for nitric acid
PropertyValue
Headwordnitric acid
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “nitric acid” sits in English frequency

nitric acid falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

nitric acid is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A transparent, colorless to pale yellow, fuming corrosive liquid, HNO₃; a highly reactive oxidizing agent used in the production of fertilizers, explosives, and rocket fuels and in a wide variety o...".

Zero misspellings are on record for nitric acid in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is nitric acid, spelled N-I-T-R-I-C- -A-C-I-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    A transparent, colorless to pale yellow, fuming corrosive liquid, HNO₃; a highly reactive oxidizing agent used in the production of fertilizers, explosives, and rocket fuels and in a wide variety of industrial processes.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "nitric acid"?
"nitric acid" is spelled N-I-T-R-I-C- -A-C-I-D.
What does "nitric acid" mean?
As a noun, "nitric acid" means: A transparent, colorless to pale yellow, fuming corrosive liquid, HNO₃; a highly reactive oxidizing agent used in the production of fertilizers, explosives, and rocket fuels and in a wide variety o...
What language does "nitric acid" come from?
"nitric acid" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “nitric acid”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is N-I-T-R-I-C- -A-C-I-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list