Olfactory
/ɒlˈfæk.tər.i/noun
Relating to the sense of smell.
Did you know?The word is built from Latin olfacere, meaning “to smell,” itself formed from olere (“to smell, give off an odor”) + facere (“to make”), so it originally meant something like “to make smell.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₂el-
“to smell, be fragrant”
Latin
Latin
olere
“to smell, emit an odor”
Latin
Latin
olfacere
“to smell; to perceive by smell”
Late Latin
Latin
olfactorius
“pertaining to smell”
16th Century
English
olfactory
“relating to the sense of smell”