Meanings
- uncountableThe distinctive scent, caused by geosmin, which accompanies the first rain after a long, warm, dry spell.
Though it had yet to begin raining, the familiar smell of petrichor appeared to be already present and Neelam suddenly wished she was sitting at home with a nice cup of tea and a good book.
2010, Val Panesar, For the Sake of the Future1 more example
The sources of the heavenly scent during and immediately after it rains are petrichor and geosmin. Petricor is an oil produced by plants then absorbed by rocks and soil and released into the air during rainfall.
2012, Diane Olson, A Nature Lover's Almanac, Gibbs Smith, →ISBN
Origin
From petr(o)- + ichor. Coined by Australian scientist Richard Grenfell Thomas in 1964 for the article “Nature of Argillaceous Odour”, co-authored by Isabel Joy Bear and published in the journal Nature.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans petrichor
- petrichordistinctive scent which accompanies rain
Arabic قَفْو
- قَفْو (qafw)distinctive scent which accompanies rain
Basque petrikor
- petrikordistinctive scent which accompanies rain
Catalan petricor
- petricordistinctive scent which accompanies rain
Chinese Mandarin 潮土油
- 潮土油 (cháotǔyóu)distinctive scent which accompanies rain
Czech vůně deště
- vůně deštědistinctive scent which accompanies rain
Esperanto petriĥoro
- petriĥorodistinctive scent which accompanies rain
Finnish sateen tuoksu
- sateen tuoksudistinctive scent which accompanies rain
French petrichor
- petrichordistinctive scent which accompanies rain
German Petrichor
- Petrichordistinctive scent which accompanies rain
Hebrew פטריכור
- פטריכורdistinctive scent which accompanies rain
Indonesian petrikor, bau tanah
- petrikordistinctive scent which accompanies rain
- bau tanahdistinctive scent which accompanies rain
- angudistinctive scent which accompanies rain
Italian petricore
- petricoredistinctive scent which accompanies rain
Japanese ペトリコール
- ペトリコール (petorikōru)distinctive scent which accompanies rain
Polish petrykora
- petrykoradistinctive scent which accompanies rain
Portuguese petricor
- petricordistinctive scent which accompanies rain
Russian петрихо́р
- петрихо́р (petrixór)distinctive scent which accompanies rain
Spanish petricor
- petricordistinctive scent which accompanies rain
Tagalog alimuom
- alimuomdistinctive scent which accompanies rain
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
petrichor. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petrichor
“petrichor.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petrichor. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “petrichor,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petrichor.
Source: petrichor on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.