Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having an aroma; fragrant or sweet-smelling.
  • adjective Chemistry Of, relating to, or containing one or more molecular ring structures having properties of stability and reactivity characteristic of benzene.
  • noun An aromatic plant or substance, such as a medication.
  • noun Chemistry An aromatic organic compound.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Giving out an aroma; fragrant; sweetscented; odoriferous; of spicy flavor.
  • Caused by an aroma or fragrant odor.
  • In chem., an epithet formerly applied to a small group of organic bodies, of vegetable origin, which had an aromatic smell and taste; now applied to all those compounds which are derived from the hydrocarbon benzene, C6H6.
  • noun A plant, drug, or medicine which yields a fragrant smell, as sage, certain spices and oils, etc.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Pertaining to, or containing, aroma; fragrant; spicy; strong-scented; odoriferous.
  • adjective (Chem.) one of a large class of organic substances, as the oils of bitter almonds, wintergreen, and turpentine, the balsams, camphors, etc., many of which have an aromatic odor. They include many of the most important of the carbon compounds and may all be derived from the benzene group, C6H6. The term is extended also to many of their derivatives.
  • adjective See under Vinegar.
  • noun A plant, drug, or medicine, characterized by a fragrant smell, and usually by a warm, pungent taste, as ginger, cinnamon, spices.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Fragrant or spicy.
  • adjective organic chemistry Having a closed ring of alternate single and double bonds with delocalized electrons.
  • adjective organic chemistry derived from benzene.
  • noun A fragrant plant or spice added to a dish to flavour it.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective having a strong pleasant odor
  • adjective (chemistry) of or relating to or containing one or more benzene rings

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle French aromatique, from Ancient Greek ἄρωμα (arōma, "seasoning, spicy and/or fragrant smell").

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Examples

  • Every day, I'd arrive for my treatment wearing the sarong they'd given me (mine to keep), sit for the foot scrub, then lie down on a wooden table whose "sheet" was a giant palm tree leaf as my two therapists rubbed hot scented sacks of herbs on my face, slathered me in aromatic oils, and worked in tandem to knead out my knots.

    Margie Goldsmith: Losing Weight Easily at Sri Lanka's Ayurveda Paragon Margie Goldsmith 2010

  • Every day, I'd arrive for my treatment wearing the sarong they'd given me (mine to keep), sit for the foot scrub, then lie down on a wooden table whose "sheet" was a giant palm tree leaf as my two therapists rubbed hot scented sacks of herbs on my face, slathered me in aromatic oils, and worked in tandem to knead out my knots.

    Margie Goldsmith: Losing Weight Easily at Sri Lanka's Ayurveda Paragon Margie Goldsmith 2010

  • It certainly drives certain aromatic characteristics in some wines, and adds amplitude, and some strength to the aromatic profile of some wines.

    Lettie Teague in WSJ: "alcohol delivers flavors" | Dr Vino's wine blog 2010

  • Every day, I'd arrive for my treatment wearing the sarong they'd given me (mine to keep), sit for the foot scrub, then lie down on a wooden table whose "sheet" was a giant palm tree leaf as my two therapists rubbed hot scented sacks of herbs on my face, slathered me in aromatic oils, and worked in tandem to knead out my knots.

    Margie Goldsmith: Losing Weight Easily at Sri Lanka's Ayurveda Paragon Margie Goldsmith 2010

  • Every day, I'd arrive for my treatment wearing the sarong they'd given me (mine to keep), sit for the foot scrub, then lie down on a wooden table whose "sheet" was a giant palm tree leaf as my two therapists rubbed hot scented sacks of herbs on my face, slathered me in aromatic oils, and worked in tandem to knead out my knots.

    Margie Goldsmith: Losing Weight Easily at Sri Lanka's Ayurveda Paragon Margie Goldsmith 2010

  • In 1477, following Spain's unification, Ferdinand and Isabella created a central Protomedicato empowered to examine, not only physicians and surgeons but also midwives, bonesetters, apothecaries, dealers in aromatic drugs, and any other persons who "in whole or in part practice these professions" — men as well as women.

    Pestilence and Headcolds: Encountering Illness in Colonial Mexico 2008

  • Balls of course, the unspeakable “New friend” David Millimoron and a host of salaried advisers like Gila Sacks, who, at a cost of £1,000,000, tickle his tummy and baste him in aromatic oils.

    Archive 2007-12-23 Newmania 2007

  • Balls of course, the unspeakable “New friend” David Millimoron and a host of salaried advisers like Gila Sacks, who, at a cost of £1,000,000, tickle his tummy and baste him in aromatic oils.

    The Ghost Of Leaders Past Newmania 2007

  • Now, there were, among the gifts, certain aromatic roots of which he would have the merchant acquaint him with the names and uses; so he said to him,

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

  • Eastern women of the higher classes by dint of continual maceration, Esther-fashion, in aromatic oils and essences, would naturally become impregnated with the sweet scents of the cosmetics used.

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

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