scent

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English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From c.1400, from Middle English sent (noun) and senten (verb), 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)

  1. A distinctive odour or smell.
    the scent of flowers
    the scent of a skunk
  2. An odour left by an animal that may be used for tracing.
    The dogs lost the scent.
  3. The sense of smell.
    I believe the bloodhound has the best scent of all dogs.
  4. A perfume.
  5. (figuratively) Any trail or trace that can be followed to find something or someone, such as the paper left behind in a paperchase.
  6. (obsolete) Sense, perception.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene:
      A fit false dream, that can delude the sleeper's sent.

Usage notes[edit]

  • Almost always applied to agreeable odors (fragrances).

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

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Translations to be checked

Verb[edit]

scent (third-person singular simple present scents, present participle scenting, simple past and past participle scented)

  1. (transitive) To detect the scent of; to discern by the sense of smell.
    The hounds scented the fox in the woods.
  2. (transitive, figuratively) To have a suspicion of.
    I scented trouble when I saw them running down the hill towards me.
  3. (transitive) To impart an odour to.
    Scent the air with burning sage before you begin your meditation.
  4. (intransitive, archaic) To have a smell.
  5. To hunt animals by means of the sense of smell.

Translations[edit]

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

Anagrams[edit]

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