perfume English · revision 39881

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1538, T. Elyot, Dictionary|origins=la fūmus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpɝfjuːm/, /pɚˈfjuːm/^(Wiktionary)

+ * UK: /ˈpɜːfjuːm/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈpɝfjuːm/, /pɚˈfjuːm/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|parfum]] (also ''perfum''),^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024) a noun formed from the verb [[m|frm|parfumer|t=to fumigate; to scent]],^(OED 2026)^(Klein 1966)^(SOED 2002) which came into English separately as the verb ''perfume''.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) The French verb is first found about 1272 in a medical text showing Italian influence, translating [[m|la|fūmigō|t=to fumigate]],^(OED 2026) and was probably taken from [[pro|perfumar]] or from dialect [[it|perfumare]] (obsolete [[m|it|parfumare]], modern [[m|it|profumare]]).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)^(ODE 2010) It means literally "to smoke through", from [[m|la|per|t=through, thoroughly]] and [[m|la|fūmō|t=to smoke]],^(AHD 2024)^(ODE 2010)^(Skeat 1911)^(Ayto 2005) from [[m|la|fūmus|t=smoke]].^(AHD 2024)^(Klein 1966) The OED compares [[m|ca|perfum]] (1399 or earlier) and [[m|es|perfume]] (1471 or earlier).^(OED 2026) Early English forms beginning with par- were regularly assimilated to the Latin prefix,^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966) and the second element is the same as in [[fume]].^(Ayto 2005)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The fumes given off by a burning substance, especially sweet-smelling ones, or such fumes used to fumigate a house or inhaled as a remedy: 1533 in Elyot's ''Castel of Helth'' according to Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) 1538 in Elyot's ''Dictionary'' according to the OED and Merriam-Webster.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) The verb is recorded in the same 1538 dictionary in the sense "to fumigate".^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Ayto observes that while [[fume]] has gone downhill in meaning, ''perfume'' has stayed among pleasant smells.^(Ayto 2005) The sense of smoke from burning faded quickly: the OED's last quotation for it is from 1578.^(OED 2026) By 1542 the noun named a substance that gives off a sweet smell when burned, such as incense,^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995) and later, usually, a fragrant liquid of essential oils and alcohol applied to the body.^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023) From the 1590s it also meant the fragrance itself, as in Marlowe,^(OED 2026) and figuratively an air or suggestion of something.^(OED 2026) The verb followed the same path, from fumigating (1538, obsolete after 1814) to filling a place with the smoke of incense (1546) and to giving a pleasant smell to something (1539).^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) Johnson (1755) defined the noun as a strong sweet odour used to scent other things, quoting Bacon.^(Johnson 1755) In American Black slang ''perfume'' was used from 1942 for presenting unpleasant facts in the best light.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1533 – fumes from a burning substance (Barnhart).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1538 – the noun, pleasant fumes, and the verb, to fumigate.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1539 – the verb, to give a sweet smell to.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1542 – a substance that smells sweet when burned.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1546 – the verb, to fill with the smoke of incense.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ * a1593 – a fragrance, in Marlowe.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1595 – figuratively, a suggestion of something.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1942 – (American Black slang) to make unpleasant facts sound better.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[fragrant]] liquid made from [[essential oil]]s and [[alcohol]], natural or synthetic, applied to the body to give it a pleasant smell: ''She dabbed some perfume behind her ears.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # A pleasant [[smell]]; a fragrance: ''The perfume of lilacs drifted across the garden.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To give a pleasant smell to; to fill with fragrance: ''Pine needles perfumed the cabin.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # To put perfume on.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[perfumeless]]

+ * [[perfumy]]

+ * [[perfumer]]

+ * [[perfumery]]

+ * [[unperfumed]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fume]]

+ * [[fumigate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The noun is stressed on the first syllable in British English, and in American English on either syllable;^(OED 2026) the verb is stressed on either syllable, and Collins gives it with stress on the second.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(Collins 2023) Of the words for a pleasant smell, Dictionary.com notes that ''perfume'' usually suggests a strong, rich odour, natural or manufactured.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}