underscent

English

Etymology

under- +‎ scent

Noun

underscent (plural underscents)

1. A scent that is perceptible but less prominent than other scents in a particular environment.

   Coordinate term: overscent

   • 1902, Marie Corelli, “Temporal Power”: A Study in Supremacy, London: Methuen, Chapter 18, p. 256,^[1]

     The under-scent of hidden violets among moss flowed potently upon the quiet air, mingled with strong pine-odours and the salt breath of the gently heaving sea,

   • 1968, M. K. Joseph, chapter 4, in The Hole in the Zero,‎^[2], New York: Dutton, page 67:

     […] below her perfume lingered another perfume, more elusive, more aggressive, a man’s scent. Still staring into her eyes, he deliberately blanked his mind three times; and each time the first picture triggered in his mind by that underscent was the face of Billy Merganser.

   • 1999, Barbara Gowdy, chapter 8, in The White Bone‎^[3], New York: Picador, page 127:

     […] night is when the ground heaves up the distracting odours of burrowed life: catfish and reptiles, and the musk of regeneration in scorched roots. [footnote:] Known as underscents, these odours hover beneath the buoyant smells of dung, leaves, living animals and even slaughter.

   • 2013, Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North‎^[4], London: Vintage, published 2014, page 402:

     hermetically enclosed rooms that had the persistent, unpleasant underscent of chemicals