deodorant

Etymology

It is formed from English de- + odor + -ant,^[2][3][4] as if from a Latin present participle *deodōrāntem of a verb *deodōrō (“to remove the smell”),^[5][6][7] from odor (“smell”).^[5][7][4] The OED suggests the analogy of dēcolōrō,^[5][6] and the Shorter Oxford takes it as formed like deodorize.^[8] Barnhart notes that both words may simply have been formed in English.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A substance that destroys bad smells: Etymonline dates it to 1848, used at first of substances to suppress the smell of manure.^[7] The OED's first quotation is from 1866, in Roscoe's Lessons in Elementary Chemistry,^[5] and Barnhart and Merriam-Webster date it to 1869.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

Its use for a preparation applied to the human body dates from 1860, according to Etymonline,^[7] and it is now chiefly used of a product that masks the smell of perspiration.^[8][9][2] It is also an adjective, destroying or masking bad smells.^[2] An earlier perfumed powder was called an empasm, recorded from the 1650s.^[7]

Timeline

• 1848 – a deodorizer, of substances for the smell of manure.^[7]
• 1860 – a substance applied to the body.^[7]
• 1866 – a substance that destroys fetid smells.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A substance applied to the body, especially under the arms, to mask or prevent the smell of perspiration: He forgot to pack his deodorant.^[9][2][8]
2. Any substance that destroys or masks unpleasant smells, such as a spray for a room; a deodorizer.^[9][2][5]

Adjective

1. Destroying or masking unpleasant smells: a deodorant soap.^[2][9]

Word family

• nondeodorant

Related words

• odor
• odorous
• deodorize

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins