Odourous

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Possessing a noticeable and often strong scent that can be either appealing or off-putting
2. Exhibiting a valid attribute of producing a prominent aroma that can vary in pleasantness or unpleasantness
3. Emitting a discernible scent which may be strong or weak, pleasant or unpleasant

Etymology: "Odourous" is a misspelling of "odorous," and the spelling with the "u" is the one readers are most likely to encounter, which makes it a useful place to start. The standard form traces back to Medieval Latin "odōrōsus," which was built from "odor," meaning smell, plus the suffix "-ous," meaning full of or having the quality of. Middle English took the word in as "odorous," so the sense is simply "full of odour." The base noun carries the bulk of the history. Latin "odor" is an older word for scent that the Romans used for both pleasant and unpleasant smells, and English inherited that neutral range. That is why this adjective can describe a rose garden or a rubbish heap with equal ease. The suffix does the rest, turning a plain noun for a smell into a description of something that is saturated with one.

Synonyms: fragrant, scented, smelly, aromatic, pungent

Antonyms: odorless, unscented, foul, stale, musty