Etymology

geosmin

G2E1O1S1M3I1N1

Today it means: A bacterial derivative of decahydronaphthalene that has a strong earthy smell and is the material responsible for petrichor and for the earthy taste of beetroot. Full definition →

Ancient Greek γεω-
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromγεω-“earth”
  2. English todaygeosmin

From Ancient Greek γεω- (geō-, “earth”) + ὀσμή (osmḗ, “smell”) + -in. Coined by American biochemist Nancy N. Gerber and French-American biologist Hubert A. Lechevalier in 1965.

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekγεω- all →

geologygeostrophicgeo-

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.