“Is rhinitis the same thing as a cold?”

Rhinitis means inflammation of the mucous membrane of the nose leading to nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, nasal itching. Having a cold or a viral infection is one cause of it. Other causes include allergic, non-allergic causes, such as strong smells, tobacco smoke

Rhinitis is irritation and inflammation of the mucous membrane inside the nose. Common symptoms are a stuffy nose, sneezing, runny nose, and post-nasal drip. Cold, on the other hand, is mainly a viral URTI infection. Rhinitis can be caused by bacterial viral and most commonly by allergens. A simple way of clearing your congestion is blowing your nostril while having your shower while in a moist atmosphere. It does help.

Rhinitis is actually a response to an offending substance that causes the nose to run or be stuffy. It is more like an immune reaction - an offending substance tells your body to protect itself by having your nose run or be stuffy.
On the other hand a cold is a virus that can cause many symptoms including rhinitis - runny or stuffy nose. It is one of those offending substances that turns on the immune response as opposed to being the actual rhinitis.

Hope this was helpful

Rhinitis is a general term for an inflammatory condition of the nasal mucosa, e.g. allergic, vasomotor, irritant, chemical. A cold can be the cause of rhinitis