Just the facts:

Nitrogen Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

Nitrogen is the Mr. Hyde of the chemical world. In its most familiar form, it is diatomic (or N-N). In this configuration, all of its electrons are occupied and it is remarkably non-reactive.

In Nitrogen's Dr. Jekyll form of nitrides, nitrites, and nitrates, it is part of some of the most powerful explosives known: TNT, Nitroglycerin, Cordite, Torpex, C4, Simtex, Octal, and others.

Nitrogen is also a key ingredient in fertilizers.

What makes non-reactive diatomic Nitrogen morph into high explosives and fertilizers? It's a process called Nitrogen fixation where its diatomic configuration is broken and placed into a new compound. This process occurs either organically in plants, animals and microbes or facilitated by industrial chemical reactions.

The ions of Nitrogen are chemically nothing at all like diatomic Nitrogen.

In the immortal word of Corbin Dallas in the Fifth Element: "Big bada BOOM."    

The word "nitrogen" comes from the Greek words "nitron" (meaning "nitre" or saltpeter) and "genes" meaning "forming"), essentially translating to "nitre-forming" as the element is derived from compounds containing nitrate; the term was coined by French chemist Jean-Antoine Chaptal, who combined "nitre" with the Greek suffix "-gène" (producing) to create "nitrogène" in French, which then became "nitrogen" in English in the late 18th century.  

The French word "nitrogène" was coined in 1790 by French chemist Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal (17556-1832). An earlier name for it was mephitic air (1772), and Lavoisier called it azote.  The term "azote" comes from the Greek word "azotos", meaning "without life" (from  "a-" meaning "without" and  "zotos" meaning "of life".  This name was historically used to describe nitrogen because it is an inert gas that does not support life or combustion.