Osmophilic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Thriving in environments abundant with scents defines certain organisms
2. Describing species that flourish in habitats replete with strong odors shows a particular ecological preference
3. Describes organisms or entities that prefer or grow best in places rich with smells

Etymology: "Osmophilic" is a technical coinage built from two Greek-derived parts. The first, "osmo-", comes from Greek "osmē", meaning "smell" or "odour", which also gave English "osmosis" (a term from the 19th century, coined for the passage of fluid through a membrane, not for smell). The second, "-philic", comes from Greek "philos", "loving", and appears in many scientific compounds meaning "attracted to" or "thriving in" a particular condition. Put together, the word describes organisms that favour or flourish in strongly scented surroundings. Like most words of this kind, it was assembled deliberately by scientists from classical building blocks rather than inherited from ancient Greek speakers, who had no such term. Its use is confined to biology and microbiology, where it sorts organisms by the environments they prefer.