Muske

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic spelling of musk, the strong, sweet-smelling secretion obtained from certain male deer and used in perfumes
2. An old variant of musk, referring to the powerful animal-derived scent once prized in fragrances and medicines
3. A obsolete form of musk, denoting the pungent glandular substance that gives perfumes a lasting, heavy aroma

Etymology: "Musk" traces back to the Sanskrit "muṣka," meaning "testicle." The name refers to the animal rather than the perfume: the scent comes from a gland in the male deer of Central and East Asia, and the Sanskrit term was a description of that gland's shape. The word travelled west through Persian as "mushk," then into Medieval Latin as "muscus." From Latin it passed into Old French as "musc," and Middle English borrowed it in that form, with spellings such as "muske" appearing as variants. Because the substance was prized as a perfume and fixative, the name came to mean the scent itself, and later gave names to plants and animals that smell of it. The original anatomical sense has disappeared entirely from the English word.