different between smell vs odorant

English

Etymology

From Middle English smellen, smillen, smyllen, smullen, from Old English *smyllan, *smiellan (“to smell, emit fumes”), from Proto-West Germanic *smallijan (“to glow, burn, smoulder”), from Proto-Indo-European *smel- (“to burn, smoke, smoulder; tar, pitch”). The noun is from Middle English smel, smil, smul (“smell, odour”). Related to Saterland Frisian smeele (“to smoulder”), Middle Dutch sm?len (“to burn, smoulder”) (whence Dutch smeulen (“to smoulder”)), Middle Low German smölen (“to be hazy, be dusty”) (whence Low German smölen (“smoulder”)), Low German smullen (“emit smoke”), West Flemish smoel (“stuffy, muggy, hazy”), Danish smul (“dust, powder”), Lithuanian smilkyti (“to incense, fumigate”), Lithuanian smilkti (“to smudge, smolder, fume, reek”), Lithuanian smalkinti (“to fume”), Middle Irish smál, smól, smúal (“fire, gleed, embers, ashes”), Russian ?????? (smolá, “resin, tar”). Compare smoulder, smother.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: sm?l, IPA^(key): /sm?l/
• Rhymes: -?l

Noun

smell (countable and uncountable, plural smells)

1. A sensation, pleasant or unpleasant, detected by inhaling air (or, the case of water-breathing animals, water) carrying airborne molecules of a substance.
   • 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

     The penetrating smell of cabbage reached the nose of Toad as he lay prostrate in his misery on the floor, and gave him the idea for a moment that perhaps life was not such a blank and desperate thing as he had imagined. But still he wailed, and kicked with his legs, and refused to be comforted. So the wise girl retired for the time, but, of course, a good deal of the smell of hot cabbage remained behind, as it will do, and Toad, between his sobs, sniffed and reflected, and gradually began to think new and inspiring thoughts: of chivalry, and poetry...

2. (physiology) The sense that detects odours.
3. A conclusion or intuition that a situation is wrong, more complex than it seems, or otherwise inappropriate.
   • 2018 Schroers, Carl (February 8, 2018) , “Chapter 8”, in Wrestling with Time Lost, Lulu Press

     “I’m just saying, this has a bad smell to it.”

Usage notes

• Adjectives often applied to "smell": acrid, awful, bad, disgusting, fishy, foul, fragrant, fresh, funny, funky, good, great, horrible, metallic, musty, nasty, nice, odd, pervasive, penetrating, pleasant, powerful, pungent, putrid, rancid, rank, rotten, sour, spoilt, salty, strange, stinky, strong, sweet, terrible, unpleasant.

Synonyms

• (sensation): see Thesaurus:smell
  • (pleasant): aroma, fragrance, odor/odour, scent; see also Thesaurus:aroma
  • (unpleasant): niff (informal), pong (informal), reek, stench, stink; see also Thesaurus:stench
• (sense): olfaction (in technical use), sense of smell

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

smell (third-person singular simple present smells, present participle smelling, simple past and past participle smelled or smelt)

1. (transitive) To sense a smell or smells.

   Synonyms: detect, sense

2. (intransitive, copulative) Followed by like or of if descriptive: to have a particular smell, whether good or bad.

   Synonyms: (informal) pong, reek, stink, (informal; these words refer to unpleasant smells) whiff
3. (intransitive, without a modifier) To smell bad; to stink.

4. (intransitive, figuratively) To have a particular tincture or smack of any quality; to savour.
   • 1649, John Milton, Eikonoklastes

     Praises in an enemy are superfluous, or smell of craft.

5. (obsolete) To exercise sagacity.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

6. To detect or perceive; often with out.
7. (obsolete) To give heed to.
   • 1552, Hugh Latimer, the first sermon upon the Lord's Prayer

     From that time forward I began to smell the Word of God, and forsook the school doctors.

8. (transitive) To smell off; to have a smell of

Usage notes

• The sense “to smell bad, stink” is considered by some to be an incorrect (euphemistic) substitute for stink.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• anosmia
• sense

References

• smell in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• smell in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Mells, Mlles, mells

Icelandic

Verb

smell (strong)

1. first-person singular present indicative of smella
2. second-person singular imperative of smella

Verb

smell (weak)

1. second-person singular imperative of smella

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From the verb smelle.

Noun

smell n (definite singular smellet, indefinite plural smell, definite plural smella or smellene)
smell m (definite singular smellen, indefinite plural smell or smeller, definite plural smellene)

1. a bang (sudden loud noise)

References

• “smell” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sm?l?/

Etymology 1

From the verb smelle.

Noun

smell n (definite singular smellet, indefinite plural smell, definite plural smella)
smell m (definite singular smellen, indefinite plural smellar, definite plural smellane)

1. a bang (sudden loud noise)

Etymology 2

Noun

smell m (definite singular smellen, indefinite plural smellar, definite plural smellane)

1. a knock, an impact

References

• “smell” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Alternative forms

• odourant

Noun

odorant (plural odorants)

1. Any substance that has a distinctive smell, especially one added to something (such as household gas) for safety purposes

Translations

Adjective

odorant

1. Having an odour/odor.

Derived terms

• deodorant
• reodorant

Anagrams

• donator, tandoor, tornado

French

Etymology

From Latin odorantem

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?.d?.???/

Adjective

odorant (feminine singular odorante, masculine plural odorants, feminine plural odorantes)

1. scented, aromatic

Derived terms

• acore odorant

Further reading

• “odorant” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Latin

Verb

od?rant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of od?r?

Romanian

Etymology

From French odorant.

Adjective

odorant m or n (feminine singular odorant?, masculine plural odoran?i, feminine and neuter plural odorante)

1. odorous, odoriferous

Declension