Nitrian
/ˈnɪtrɪən/adjective
Of, relating to, or designating the desert region of Nitria, to the west of Cairo in Egypt, especially as the place of settlement of a group of ascetic Christian hermit monks in the 4th cent.
Origin
Late 17th century; earliest use found in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. From the name of the region of Nitria (Byzantine Greek Νιτρία, Hellenistic Greek Νιτρίαι (Strabo)) in Egypt + -an.