odor

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈɔ.dɔr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɔː.dor]^[1]

Forms

odor m (genitive odōris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *odōs (“odour”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- (“to smell”).^[2][1] Cognate with Ancient Greek ὄζω (ózō, “to smell”), Ancient Greek ὀσμή (osmḗ, “smell”), Armenian հոտ (hot, “smell”) and Lithuanian uosti (“to smell”).^[2][3] Plautus has the old nominative odōs.^[2][3] The verb oleō “to smell” shows the change of /d/ to /l/ between vowels, which did not happen before long /ō/ in odōs.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus, who says the smell of all perfumes is bilge-water compared with hers.^[2][4][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It was any smell, pleasant or unpleasant, and especially a fragrance, as Ovid's marigold that outdoes roses in scent.^[3] Concretely odōrēs were perfumes and aromatic spices, strewn or burned.^[3] Figuratively it meant a suggestion or inkling, as Cicero's odor urbānitātis “a whiff of refinement”.^[5]

Döderlein says odor and olēre are the smell a thing has, while olfactus is the sense of smell.^[6] Through Anglo-French odour it gave English odor about 1300, and Medieval Latin odōrōsus gave English odorous.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has the old nominative odōs.^[3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of a whiff of refinement.^[5][4]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid speaks of the scent of marigolds.^[3][4]
• c. 1300 – English odor is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A smell, odour.^[3]
2. A pleasant smell, fragrance.^[3]
3. (plural) Perfumes, aromatic spices.^[3]
4. (figurative) An inkling, suggestion.^[5]

Word family

• odōrō
• odōror

Related words

• oleō
• olfaciō
• English odor
• English odorous

Usage notes

Isidore derived odor from āer “air”.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).