Everyday LifeGreek → English
Aroma
/əˈrəʊmə/noun
A pleasant smell, usually from food, drink or plants.
The Greek roots
ἄρωμα
árōma
spice, sweet herb
Literally: “spice”
Follow a root:ἄρωμα1 word
The story of the word
Ἄρωμα meant the spice itself, not the smell coming off it, and the plural ἀρώματα is what the women carry to the tomb in the Gospel of Mark. Middle English used aromat for a spice, and only in the nineteenth century did the word settle on the scent rather than the substance. Chemists then borrowed it a third way: aromatic compounds are named for benzene's smell, not its structure.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → Old French → English
- First recorded
- 13th century
Same family
aromaticaromatherapy
In a sentence
The aroma of the bread reached the stairs before the timer went off.