Chem. [f. TRI- 5 + NITRATE.] A compound formed from three molecules of nitric acid, HNO3, by the replacement of the three hydrogen atoms by a trivalent element or radical; e.g., bismuth trinitrate, Bi″′(NO3)3; glyceryl trinitrate, C3H5″′(NO3)3, (= TRINITRIN).
1868. Watts, Dict. Chem., IV. 83. The [hydrated] trinitrates of aluminium and bismuth … evolve unaltered nitric acid.
1880. Roscoe & Schorlemmer, Treat. Chem., II. ii. 338. Bismuth Trinitrate … is obtained in large transparent triclinic prisms.
1912. Thorpe, Dict. Appl. Chem. (ed. 2), II. 773. The most important is glyceryl trinitrate, or nitroglycerin.
