smell English · revision 4899

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1175}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /smel/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|smellen]], smullen, smillen,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986) not found in Old English.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is perhaps related to Middle Dutch smölen and Low German smelen “to smoulder”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) compare the link between smoke and smell in [[reek]].^(Barnhart 1988) The OED holds it to be of Old English origin but unrecorded and without cognates,^(Etymonline) and Hoad, Word Origins and the NODE call its origin unknown.^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998) It is related to [[smolder]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To perceive by the nose: about 1175 in the OED and Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) The noun, the property of things that affects the nose, is from before 1175 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Old English words were stincan and stenċ, the sources of [[stink]] and [[stench]],^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline) and smell took over their neutral sense.^(Hoad 1986) Smell came to mean a bad smell, a stench, by the late 14th century, and to perceive as if by smell, to detect, then too.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''To smell a rat'', to be suspicious, is from the 1540s.^(Etymonline) ''Smelling salts'' are from 1840, in Dickens's Old Curiosity Shop,^(Barnhart 1988) and ''smelly'' is from 1826.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Wake up and smell the coffee'' and ''stop and smell the roses'' are 20th-century American expressions.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1175 – to perceive by smell; an odour.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1380 – to detect as if by smell.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – to stink.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1540s – ''smell a rat''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1826 – ''smelly''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The quality of something that is noticed by the nose; an [[odour]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An unpleasant odour; a [[stink]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The ability to notice odours.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An act of smelling; a [[sniff]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To notice or recognize something by its odour.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To have a particular odour, or an unpleasant one.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To sense or suspect something: ''smell danger''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[smeller]]

+ * [[smellable]]

+ * [[smell-less]]

+ * [[smelly]]

+ * [[outsmell]]

+ * [[unsmelled]]

+ * [[smelling bottle]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[smolder]]

+ * [[reek]]

+ * [[stench]]

+ * [[stink]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The past tense and participle are smelled or smelt.^(Roach et al. 2011)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}