Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The sense of smell.
- noun The act or process of smelling.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The sense of smell or faculty of smelling; an olfactory act or process; smell; scent.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Physiol.) The sense by which the impressions made on the olfactory organs by the odorous particles in the atmosphere are perceived.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun the
sense ofsmell ; thedetection ofairborne molecules
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the faculty that enables us to distinguish scents
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Research on smell - what scientists call olfaction - is discussed in the December issue of the Reader's Digest magazine in an article by Paula Dranov.
Mind Hacks: Smell 2005
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Research on smell - what scientists call olfaction - is discussed in the December issue of the Reader's Digest magazine in an article by Paula Dranov.
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You got me thinking about how I sometimes play up my interest in "olfaction" and the "psychology of scent" or relate it to my former life in specialty coffee using sensory evaluation everyday when speaking of this hobby with others.
Perfume? Really? Marina Geigert 2007
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Of the big five, olfaction is the one identified most strongly with memory.
Tamsin Smith: The Untaming Tamsin Smith 2011
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Vaporized oyster olfaction delivery systems are on the edge of really breaking out …
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Of course in the wine industry, we often start enjoying the wine via olfaction … mmmmmm.
Homage to Olfaction « California Life: Better Than Happy Hour 2009
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Of course in the wine industry, we often start enjoying the wine via olfaction … mmmmmm.
06 « January « 2009 « California Life: Better Than Happy Hour 2009
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Of the big five, olfaction is the one identified most strongly with memory.
Tamsin Smith: The Untaming Tamsin Smith 2011
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Of course in the wine industry, we often start enjoying the wine via olfaction … mmmmmm.
January « 2009 « California Life: Better Than Happy Hour 2009
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In women, the olfaction sense is strongest around ovulation.
Homage to Olfaction « California Life: Better Than Happy Hour 2009
john commented on the word olfaction
"At the International Symposium on Olfaction and Taste held in San Francisco late last month, Dr. Herz and other researchers discussed the many ways our sense of smell stands alone. Olfaction is an ancient sense, the key by which our earliest forebears learned to approach or slink off. Yet the right aroma can evoke such vivid, whole body sensations that we feel life’s permanent newness, the grounding of now."
The New York Times, The Nose, an Emotional Time Machine, by Natalie Angier, August 5, 2008
August 5, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word olfaction
Is it such an unusual word, that only 2 Wordies list it? (Three, now)
June 20, 2009
100001235978556 commented on the word olfaction
i love this word its so unsal and unique i didnt know there was another word for smell!
August 21, 2011
bilby commented on the word olfaction
Very unsal.
August 21, 2011