Etymologically
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aroma

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /əˈɹəʊ.mə/[1]
  • US: /əˈɹoʊ.mə/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English aromat, plural aromaz,[2][3] borrowed from Old French aromat,[4][5][6] now aromate,[4][7] from the plural of Latin arōma (“spice, sweet odour”),[4][5][8] from Ancient Greek ἄρωμα (árōma, “spice, seasoning, sweet herb”).[4][9][10][7] Barnhart takes the French word as a learned borrowing of Medieval Latin arōmatum, an alteration of the Latin noun.[3] The Anglo-Norman form is recorded from the third quarter of the 12th century, meaning a fragrant ointment or balm.[11] In modern times the English word was altered back to the Latin and Greek form;[4][8][6][7] Barnhart sees the modern noun as influenced by the Latin word or borrowed from it again.[3][12] The Greek word is of unknown or uncertain origin.[9][10][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A spice or fragrant substance, usually in the plural: about 1220, in the Legend of Saint Katherine, where angels anoint the saint's wounds with ointments of spices.[4][2] Barnhart dates the Middle English forms to before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle.[3]

Semantic evolution

For six centuries the word meant only a spice or a fragrant plant, a sense the OED records until 1753.[4][13][5] The modern sense, a distinctive and usually pleasant smell, is first recorded in 1814 in the Edinburgh Review;[4][9][3] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates it to 1788.[6] Barnhart notes that the adjective aromatic, recorded from about 1400, referred to scent some 400 years before the noun did.[3] From 1830, in Coleridge, aroma could also mean an aromatic essence or oil,[4] and in 1851, in Carlyle, it was first used figuratively for a subtle quality or charm that pervades something.[4][14] In wine-tasting it is the fragrance that comes from the grape variety, as distinct from the bouquet.[6] In American drug slang it has been a name for amyl nitrite, from its strong smell, since 1977.[15]

Timeline

  • c. 1220 – a spice, usually in the plural (obsolete by 1753).[4][2]
  • 1814 – the distinctive fragrance of a spice, plant or the like; a pleasant smell.[4][9] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates this sense to 1788.[6]
  • 1830 – an aromatic essence or oil.[4]
  • 1851 – figurative, a subtle pervasive quality or charm.[4]
  • 1977 – drug slang, amyl nitrite.[15]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A distinctive, usually pleasant smell, especially of spices, food, wine or plants: the aroma of roasting chestnuts.[14][6][4]
  2. The fragrance of a wine that comes from the grape variety used, as distinct from its bouquet.[6]
  3. A subtle, pervasive quality or atmosphere: an aroma of scandal about the deal.[14][4]
  4. An aromatic essence or oil.[4]
  5. (obsolete, c. 1220–1753) A spice or fragrant plant, usually in the plural.[4][6][5]

Word family

Usage notes

The plural is usually aromas,[4][5] and aromata, after the Latin and Greek plural, is occasional[4][5] and has been called hypercorrect.[9] Merriam-Webster Unabridged also records aroma, or aromo, as the name of several spiny shrubs and trees such as the huisache, from 1903, borrowed from American Spanish aroma (“flower of the huisache”), from the same Latin word.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  9. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  12. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  13. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  14. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  15. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com