Meanings
- uncountablehuman sciencesSexual arousal through olfactory stimulation.
In the Hindu theory of ojas and sublimation, we may have an interesting complement to the Freudian hypothesis about osphresiolagnia and its 'repression'.
1950, Swami Smaranananda, Awakened India, volume 60, page 872 more examples
1910, Karl Abraham, Douglas Bryan, Alix Strachey (translators), The Man who Loved Corsets, reprinted in 1959, Harold Greenwald, Great Cases in Psychoanalysis, 1987, page 45, In the present case it turned out that the patient had passed through a stage which corresponded to smell-fetishism, and that after this a peculiar modification had taken place by which his osphresiolagnia (abnormal interest in odors [Ed.]) had been repressed and his pleasure in looking had been sublimated to pleasure in seeing foot-wear which had an æsthetic value.
This instance belongs to the field of osphresiolagnia, the fetishistic-libidinal attachment to odors, especially those emanating from some part of the loved one's body.
1964, Benjamin Karpman, The Sexual Offender and His Offenses: Etiology, Pathology, Psychodynamics, and Treatment, page 496Synonyms: osmophilia, olfactophilia
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSexual arousal through olfactory stimulation.
Origin
- Ancient Greekὄσφρησις“sense of smell”
- Englishosphresiolagnia
From Ancient Greek ὄσφρησις (ósphrēsis, “sense of smell”) (from ὄζω (ózō, “to smell”)) + λαγνεία (lagneía, “lust, coition”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
osphresiolagnia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/osphresiolagnia
“osphresiolagnia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/osphresiolagnia. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “osphresiolagnia,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/osphresiolagnia.
Source: osphresiolagnia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.