olfaction

The sense of smell; the detection of airborne molecules.

Noun

  1. The sense of smell; the detection of airborne molecules.
    • ‘I think the single most extraordinary aspect of olfaction is that we all smell the world differently,’ Beauchamp told me. - 2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Black Swan (2020), page 105:

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French olfaction /olefaction, from Latin olfactus, perfect passive participle of olfaciō (“to smell (transitive)”) + -tion.

Forms

olfactions

Synonyms

flair olfaction olfactories smell

Antonyms

anosmia

Hypernyms

sense

Related

olfactory nose

Derived

vomerolfaction