The compound adjective 'sweet-smelling' is a transparent combination of two native English elements. 'Sweet' originates from the Proto-Germanic swōtuz, carrying the core sense of 'pleasant to the senses', which extended from taste to scent. 'Smelling' derives from the Old English verb related to odor perception. The compound's logic is entirely literal and descriptive, directly combining the concept of a pleasing quality ('sweet') with the act of emitting a scent ('smelling') to create a term for something fragrant. Its formation follows a common Germanic pattern for creating descriptive adjectives, similar to 'good-looking' or 'soft-spoken'.

Structure: sweet (pleasant) + smelling (giving off an odor) - sweet: From Old English swēte, meaning 'pleasing to the senses, fragrant, not salty'. It functions as an adjective describing a pleasant quality. - smelling: From the verb smell (Old English smyllan, meaning 'to emit an odor') combined with the present participle suffix -ing. In this compound, it functions adjectivally, meaning 'giving off an odor'.