odorous
Meaning
having a smell, especially an unpleasant one
Structure
Usage
the room was dark and odorous, filled with the scent of damp earth.
the chemical spill left an odorous cloud lingering over the neighborhood.
some flowers are highly odorous at night to attract specific pollinators.
Etymology
the word 'odorous' is a direct descendant from the latin adjective odorosus, meaning "fragrant" or "smelly". it was formed by combining the latin noun odor (smell, scent) with the adjectival suffix -osus (full of). the latin odor itself traces back to the proto-indo-european root h₃ed-, meaning "to smell". while the latin source could denote pleasant or neutral scents, the modern english term has developed a stronger association with noticeable, often unpleasant, odors, reflecting a semantic narrowing from its more general latin ancestor.
Analysis
- odor: from latin odor meaning "smell, scent". - ous: a suffix of latin origin (-osus) used to form adjectives meaning "full of, having the qualities of".