Jump To:

• cologne
  cologne

  noun

  a mildly perfumed toilet water; eau de Cologne.
• Cologne
  Cologne

  noun

  a city in W Germany.

cologne

¹ American  

[kuh-lohn] / kəˈloʊn /

noun

colognes plural

1. a mildly perfumed toilet water; eau de Cologne.

---

Cologne ² American  

[kuh-lohn] / kəˈloʊn /

noun

1. a city in W Germany.

---

cologne ¹ British  

/ kəˈləʊn /

noun

1. Also called: Cologne water.   eau de Cologne.  a perfumed liquid or solid made of fragrant essential oils and alcohol

---

Cologne ² British  

/ kəˈləʊn /

noun

1. German name: Köln.  an industrial city and river port in W Germany, in North Rhine-Westphalia on the Rhine: important commercially since ancient times; university (1388). Pop: 965 954 (2003 est)

---

Cologne Cultural  

1. City in western Germany on the Rhine River; a commercial center.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cologned
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• colognes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cologne

Short for Cologne water, made in Cologne since 1709

Explanation

Cologne is a type of perfume, a liquid that smells good and is meant to be dabbed behind your ears. When you get dressed up for a night on the town, you might be sure to put some cologne on your neck. Both men and women wear cologne, which is scented with extracts or oils in a base of alcohol and water. Cologne is considered a kind of toilet water, which is less concentrated than perfume — and can be applied more liberally. If you've ever stood in an elevator with a man wearing an excessive amount of cologne, you know there can be too much of a good thing. The word is from the French eau de Cologne, "water from Cologne (Germany)."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cologne Cologne colognes

She recalls their brief exchange at the rededication of Notre-Dame Cathedral in December 2024, a photograph of which Trump later used to advertise a Trump-branded cologne.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026

Not everyone is thrilled at the thought of spritzing French cologne onto this famously unvarnished industry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026

He sprayed Sharaa with Trump-branded cologne, before presenting him with his own supply to take home for his wife, jokingly asking him how many he has.

From BBC ● Dec. 8, 2025

The thing about guys trying to be like Charlie Sheen is they wear borrowed danger like drugstore cologne.

From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2025

I didn’t mention smelling Marcus’s cologne because it would have pitted his word against mine, and he had the benefit of both a car and money.

From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson

"Ten years ago we made about six million vehicles a year and we've now stabilised at about four, 4.2 million," transport economist Thomas Puls of the IW economic institute in Cologne told AFP.

From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026

Sander’s involvement with the avant-garde Cologne Progressives and New Objectivity art movements explains the extent of “The Artists”; most of the subjects in this section are not only characterized but named.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026

The same kind of measures are taken across the world at Liquid’s main competitor, Echo Esports, in Cologne, Germany.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2026

An international team led by the University of Cologne studied tiny soil worms known as nematodes in Chile's Atacama Desert.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 2, 2026

I went on a visit to the city of Cologne.

From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall

The perfumes and colognes are selling for nearly $200.

From Salon ● Dec. 10, 2024

Mr. Rabanne became known in the 1970s for colognes, handbags and ready-to-wear fashion that made him familiar to department-store consumers around the world.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 3, 2023

He rotates among three colognes: one for when he feels good, one for when he said he feels “dangerous” and another for when he tries to break up the team’s losing streak.

From New York Times ● May 22, 2022

That’s probably because Calone is employed as an ingredient in a vast array of colognes and perfumes, including scents by Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Christian Dior.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2021

He goes shopping with her on Madison Avenue at stores they must be buzzed into, for cashmere cardigans and outrageously expensive English colognes that Maxine buys without deliberation or guilt.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri