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odeur

Etymology and origin of the French word odeur

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1112, Voyage de saint Brendan (udur)
Borrowed from
Latin odor
Ultimate origin
Latin (odor)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin odor
French odeur

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɔ.dœʁ/[1]

Forms

odeur f (plural odeurs)[1] Udur (about 1112), odur (about 1121), odor (about 1130), odeur from about 1380.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin odor (“smell, scent (good or bad)”), according to the TLFi and Rey, Wiktionary has it inherited through Old French “odor”.[4][2][5][1][6] The Latin word, also found as olor (compare olfactif), contains an Indo-European root “*od-” “to smell” also seen in Ancient Greek ὄζω (ózō, “to smell”), whence ozone.[2][7] Littré notes that 16th-century Latinists tried to make “odeur” masculine, as Brunetto Latini had done in the 13th century.[8]

Compare Italian odore and Portuguese odor.[8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Voyage de saint Brendan (about 1112) udur means a perfume, a pleasant scent, Philippe de Thaon (1121–35) uses odur for the sensation smells produce.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “perfume” is now dated or literary (des odeurs), though in Canada a toilet soap is a savon d'odeur.[2] From the late 12th century it was used figuratively for the impression a person makes on others, whence en mauvaise odeur (1585) and en bonne odeur (1611), both obsolete.[4][2] En odeur de sainteté (after 1650) alludes to the sweet smell said to come from the bodies of saints after death, mourir en odeur de sainteté dates from 1672, and the familiar ne pas être en odeur de sainteté “to be in bad odour” from 1835.[4][2]

Timeline

  • c. 1112 – Udur “perfume”, Voyage de saint Brendan.[4]
  • 1121–35 – Odur “smell”, Philippe de Thaon.[4]
  • Late 12th century – Figurative “odour” of a person.[4]
  • c. 1380 – The form odeur.[2]
  • 1672 – Mourir en odeur de sainteté.[4]
  • 1835 – Ne pas être en odeur de sainteté.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A smell, odour: une odeur de brûlé, une bonne, une mauvaise odeur.[7][1]
  2. (literary, dated) A perfume, scent: des odeurs.[2]
  3. Mourir en odeur de sainteté: to die in the odour of sanctity, ne pas être en odeur de sainteté auprès de, to be in someone's bad books.[9][4]
  • odorant
  • odorat
  • odoriférant
  • inodore
  • malodorant
  • subodorer
  • olfactif

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 325a
  7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Odeur.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/odeur. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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