Standard Lemma guide

nitrocellulose

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • CMU ARPABET: N AY2 T R OW0 S EH1 L Y AH0 L OW2 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A cotton-like material, made from cellulose by the action of nitric and sulphuric acids, used in the manufacture of explosives, collodion etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, organic-chemistry, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: NC, cellulose nitrate, nitrocotton, gun cotton, pyrocellulose, pyroxylin

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a nitric acid ester; used in lacquers and explosives

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cellulose nitrate, guncotton, nitrocotton

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: cellulose ester, nitrate

Narrower terms: pyrocellulose, pyroxylin, pyroxyline

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Egyptian nṯr Proto-Afroasiatic *-i? Egyptian -j Egyptian nṯrjder. Semiticbor. Ancient Greek νῐ́τρον (nĭ́tron) English nitro- Proto-Indo-European *ḱel-der. Latin cella Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -ula Latin cellulabor. French cellule French -ose French cellulosebor. English cellulose English nitrocellulose From nitro- + cellulose.

Across languages

Translations

26 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: cotó pólvora — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • Finnish: selluloosanitraatti — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • Finnish: nitroselluloosa — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • French: nitrocellulose — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • French: fulmi-coton — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • German: Schießbaumwolle — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • German: Nitrozellulose — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • German: Zellulosenitrat — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • German: Pyroxylin — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • Greek: νιτροκυτταρίνη (nitrokyttaríni) — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • Hungarian: cellulóz-nitrát — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • Hungarian: nitro-cellulóz — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • Icelandic: sprengibómull — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • Italian: nitrocellulosa — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • Italian: fulmicoton — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • Manx: cadee gunney — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • Polish: bawełna strzelnicza — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • Portuguese: algodão-pólvora — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • Romanian: nitroceluloză — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • Romanian: nitrat de celuloză — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • Spanish: nitrocelulosa — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • Spanish: fulmicotón — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • Spanish: algodón pólvora — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • Spanish: piroxilina — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • Swedish: cellulosanitrat — the chemical nitrocellulose
  • Vietnamese: nitroxeluloza — the chemical nitrocellulose