scent
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
- sent (obsolete)
Etymology[edit]
From c.1400, borrowed from Old French sentir (“to feel, perceive, smell”), from Old French sentire "to feel, perceive, sense", from Latin sentīre, present active infinitive of sentiō. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to feel”), and thus related to Dutch zin (“sense, meaning”), German Sinn (“sense”), Low German Sinn (“sense”), Luxembourgish Sënn (“sense, perception”), Saterland Frisian Sin (“sense”), West Frisian sin (“sense”). The -c- appeared in the 17th century, possibly by influence of ascent, descent, etc., or by influence of science.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
scent (countable and uncountable, plural scents)
- A distinctive odour or smell.
- An odour left by an animal that may be used for tracing.
- The dogs lost the scent.
- The sense of smell.
- I believe the bloodhound has the best scent of all dogs.
- A perfume.
- (figurative) Any trail or trace that can be followed to find something or someone, such as the paper left behind in a paperchase.
- (obsolete) Sense, perception.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene:
- A fit false dream, that can delude the sleeper's sent.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene:
Usage notes[edit]
- Almost always applied to agreeable odors (fragrances).
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
distinctive odour or smell
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odour left by animal
sense of smell
perfume
figuratively: any traces that can be followed
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Verb[edit]
scent (third-person singular simple present scents, present participle scenting, simple past and past participle scented)
- (transitive) To detect the scent of; to discern by the sense of smell.
- The hounds scented the fox in the woods.
- c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene v]:
- Methinks I scent the morning air.
- (transitive, figurative) To have a suspicion of.
- I scented trouble when I saw them running down the hill towards me.
- (transitive) To impart an odour to.
- Scent the air with burning sage before you begin your meditation.
- ???, John Dryden, Helen and Melenaus
- Balm from a silver box distilled around, / Shall all bedew the roots, and scent the sacred ground.
- (intransitive, archaic) To have a smell.
- (Can we date this quote by Holland and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- Thunderbolts […] do scent strongly of brimstone.
- (Can we date this quote by Holland and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- To hunt animals by means of the sense of smell.
Translations[edit]
to detect the scent of
to impart an odour to
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Anagrams[edit]
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Old French
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- Italian terms inherited from Latin
- Italian terms derived from Latin
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- en:Smell