What does cyanamide mean?
Cyanamide is a chemical compound whose molecule combines a nitrile carbon with an amino group, giving the formula H₂NCN. It exists chiefly as a white, water-soluble solid that plays two notable practical roles: as a reactive building block in organic synthesis, where it helps form amidines and other nitrogen-rich compounds, and—most familiarly—as calcium cyanamide, a salt long used on farmland as a source of nitrogen for crops. Calcium cyanamide, produced industrially since the early twentieth century, also suppresses weeds and pests, so growers may speak simply of 'cyanamide' when referring to the fertilizer. A related formulation, hydrogen cyanamide, is sprayed on orchards and vineyards to encourage uniform budding after mild winters. The word appears almost exclusively in technical, scientific, and agricultural contexts, and readers should take care not to confuse it with the similarly named and much more notorious cyanide.
nounA chemical compound containing the group N≡C–NH₂; specifically the compound H₂NCN (also called carbamoyl nitrile), and by extension its salts such as calcium cyanamide, used as a fertilizer.
- The chemical compound H₂NCN (carbamoyl nitrile), a colorless crystalline solid used in organic synthesis and agriculture.
- Any salt or ester of this compound, especially calcium cyanamide (CaCN₂), historically important as a nitrogen fertilizer.
"The vineyard workers applied hydrogen cyanamide to break dormancy in the vines after an unusually warm winter."
"Calcium cyanamide was once widely spread on fields as both a fertilizer and a weed suppressant."
"In the laboratory, cyanamide serves as a useful reagent for introducing the amidine group into organic molecules."
The plural is rare and typically appears only in chemical discussions referring collectively to different cyanamide salts or substituted cyanamides.
"Various substituted cyanamides were screened for herbicidal activity."
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cyanamide
The word cyanamide is formed from 'cyan' plus 'amide', reflecting the compound's structure as an amide of cyanic acid. The element-name root traces back to the Greek 'kyanos', meaning dark blue, which chemists adopted in the late eighteenth century when naming blue pigments and their derivatives such as cyanogen. English usage of cyanamide dates from the nineteenth century, coinciding with the growth of industrial chemistry. Its closest relatives are the other 'cyano-' compounds, including cyanide, cyanate, and cyanogen.
How cyanamide is actually used
A technical term of chemistry and agronomy, rarely encountered outside scientific, industrial, or agricultural writing. In agricultural contexts 'cyanamide' often implicitly refers to calcium cyanamide, while in chemistry it denotes the parent compound H₂NCN.
Easily confused with cyanamide
A cyanide contains the CN⁻ ion and is famously toxic, whereas cyanamide is the related but distinct compound H₂NCN, best known as a fertilizer and plant-growth regulator.