Redolence
/ˈrɛd.ə.ləns/noun
A pleasant or noticeable smell; the quality of giving off an odor.
Did you know?Redolence comes from Latin *redolēre*, meaning “to smell strongly,” built from *re-* (“back”) + *olēre* (“to smell”), so the word’s history is all about scent returning to the air.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
redolēre
“to give off a strong smell; to smell back”
Late Latin
Latin
redolentia
“the condition of smelling strongly”
14th Century
English
redolence
“the quality of having a strong or noticeable smell”
Modern English
English
redolence
“a pleasant or distinctive odor”