Plural of cyanogen; chemical compounds or substances that contain the cyano group (CN) and can produce cyanide.
From cyano- (blue, cyanide) + -gen (producer). The term dates to 19th-century chemistry when scientists were identifying and naming color-producing compounds.
Cyanogen gas (C₂N₂) is a real chemical that's highly toxic and burns with a bright blue flame—it was actually one of the first rocket fuels studied in the 1940s-50s.
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