Odor
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"As the three women stood there, taking leave of each other, the odour of the cheeses seemed to become more pestilential than ever. It was a cacophony of smells, ranging from the heavily oppressive odour of the Dutch cheeses and the Gruyeres to the alkaline pungency of the Olivets." --Le Ventre de Paris (1873) by Émile Zola, translation by Ernest Alfred Vizetelly "Suddenly there developed a terrific orchestration of chromatic odours: ambrosia, cassia, orange, peach-blossoms, and musk of Tonkin, magnolia, eglantine, hortensia, lilac, saffron, begonia, peau d'Espagne, acacia, carnation, liban, fleur de Takeoka, cypress, oil of almonds, benzoin, jacinth, rue, shrub, olea, clematis, the hediosma of Jamaica, olive, vanilla, cinnamon, petunia, lotus, frankincense, sorrel, neroli from Japan, jonquil, verbena, spikenard, thyme, hyssop, and decaying orchids. This quintessential medley was as the sonorous blasts of Berlioz, repugnant and exquisite; it swayed the soul of Baldur as the wind sways the flame."-- Visionaries (1905) by James Huneker |
Illustration: Napoleon III nose caricatures from Schneegans's History of Grotesque Satire
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An odor is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds that are generally found in low concentrations that humans and animals can perceive by their sense of smell. An odor is also called a "smell" or a "scent", which can refer to either a pleasant or an unpleasant odor.
While "odor" can refer to pleasant and unpleasant odors, the terms "scent", "aroma", and "fragrance" are usually reserved for pleasant-smelling odors and are frequently used in the food and cosmetic industry to describe floral scents or to refer to perfumes.
In the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth, English-speaking nations, "odour" refers to scents in general—without positive or negative connotations; but in the United States, and for many non-native English speakers around the world, "odor" generally has a negative connotation as a synonym for "stink".
Further reading
- Die sexuelle Osphresiologie (1901) by Albert Hagen
- Odoratus Sexualis: A Scientific and Literary Study of Sexual Scents and Erotic Perfumes (1933) by Iwan Bloch
- The Smell of Books: A Cultural-Historical Study of Olfactory Perception in Literature (1992) by Hans J. Rindisbacher
See also
- Anosmia
- Aroma compound
- Body odor
- Indole, skatole
- Olfaction
- Odor di femina
- Olfactory art
- Olfactory fatigue
- Olfactometer
- Machine olfaction
- Scented water
- Literature and olfaction
