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Added 8 October 2026

smell

/smɛl/ noun

In Latin: odor Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about smell at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A sensation, pleasant or unpleasant, detected by inhaling air (or, the case of water-breathing animals, water) carrying airborne molecules of a substance.
I love the smell of fresh bread.
The sense that detects odours.
A conclusion or intuition that a situation is wrong, more complex than it seems, or otherwise inappropriate.

verb

To sense a smell or smells.
I can smell fresh bread.
To detect or perceive; often with out.
Followed by like or of if descriptive: to have a particular smell, whether good or bad.
The roses smell lovely.

Origin

From Middle English smellen, smillen, smyllen, smullen, from Old English *smyllan, *smiellan (“to smell, emit fumes”), from Proto-West Germanic *smallijan (“to glow, burn, smoulder”), from Proto-Indo-European *smel- (“to burn, smoke, smoulder; tar, pitch”). The noun is from Middle English smel, smil, smul (“smell, odour”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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