Etymology

olfaction

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Today it means: The sense of smell; the detection of airborne molecules. Full definition →

Middle French olfaction /olefaction ← Latin olfactus
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromolfactus
  2. Middle French · borrowed fromolfaction /olefaction
  3. English todayolfaction

Borrowed from Middle French olfaction /olefaction, from Latin olfactus, perfect passive participle of olfaciō (“to smell (transitive)”) + -tion.

Words from the same roots

Latinolfactus all →

olfolfactolfacto-

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.