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Affixes

az(o)-

Also azot(o)‑.

Nitrogen; the chemical radical -N=N-.

Obsolete azote, nitrogen, from French, generated from Greek a‑, without, and zōē, life (because nitrogen gas goes not support life).

Some terms in azo‑ refer generally to the presence of nitrogen, or to compounds containing nitrogen: an azide is a compound containing the unstable N₃ radical, such as sodium azide, NaN₃.

More specifically, the suffix refers to the presence of the group -N=N- (the azo group) in chemical compounds, for example in azobenzene, an orange-red, crystalline powder with the formula C₆H₅N=NC₆H₅.

Compounds containing azoto‑ include azotobacter, an aerobic nitrogen-fixing bacterium. In medicine, azotemia is the retention of excessive amounts of nitrogenous compounds in the blood.

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