olfactorius

Forms

olfactōrius (feminine olfactōria, neuter olfactōrium); first/second-declension adjective^[1] Scribonius Largus and Fronto have the spelling olfactārius, which editors often change to -or-.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin olfaciō + -tōrius,^[3][2] though Wiktionary derives it from the agent noun olfactor (“smeller”).^[1] olfaciō (“to smell”) combines oleō (“to give off a smell”) and faciō (“to make”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first author is Scribonius Largus, about AD 47, who has the neuter as a noun: things to smell at, used to revive patients with stomach complaints.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Pliny the Elder also uses the neuter noun olfactōrium for a smelling bottle or vessel of scent;^[3][2] Georges renders it as a nosegay.^[6] Fronto speaks of the amber balls that girls sniff at, a passage where the TLL is unsure whether the word is an adjective or a noun.^[2][6] The TLL also records the diminutive olfactōriolum.^[2]

English olfactory was formed from it in the 1650s.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 47 AD – Scribonius Largus uses the neuter for things to smell at.^[2][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses olfactōrium for a vessel to sniff at.^[3][2][5]
• 100–170 AD – Fronto writes of scented amber balls.^[6][2][5]
• 1650s – English borrows it as olfactory.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Used for smelling, sniffed at; scented, perfumed.^[3][7][8]
2. (neuter as noun) olfactōrium, a smelling bottle; a perfume or the small vessel holding it.^[3][2]
3. (neuter as noun) A nosegay.^[6]

Related words

• olfaciō
• English olfactory

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier