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• 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.

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Cologne ² American  

[kuh-lohn] / kəˈloʊn /

noun

1. a city in W Germany.

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Cologne ¹ 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)

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cologne ² British  

/ kəˈləʊn /

noun

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

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Cologne Cultural  

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cologned
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• colognes
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of cologne

Short for Cologne water, made in Cologne since 1709

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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

A wispy sagebrush offered up its scent as a natural cologne.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026

A cologne with notes of violet, oud and cinnamon ensures he’ll leave a lasting impression long after he’s left a room.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

Kenneth Humphrey spent 250 days in jail for $5 and a bottle of cologne.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 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 new smell of sweat and old smell of cologne filled my nostrils.

From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

In Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne and dozens of other cities, demonstrators turned out for the protests organised by the group "GenZ regelt!"

From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2026

Born in 1838 in Cologne and educated in Leipzig and Mannheim, young Max Bruch developed a fondness for the lyrical, intimate romanticism of Schumann and Mendelssohn, and an equally powerful antipathy toward Wagnerian maximalism.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

"However, new studies suggest that birch tar may also have been used for other purposes," says Tjaark Siemssen of the University of Cologne and Oxford University, who is leading the current study.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

A global shift toward nonalcoholic drinks — driven by greater health consciousness from California to Cologne and beyond — has reached even the world’s biggest celebration of beer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

On 5 September he managed to get hold of a telescope Galileo had sent to the elector of Cologne, and finally he saw for himself.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

The perfumes and colognes are selling for nearly $200.

From Salon ● Dec. 10, 2024

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

"When I started advertising, all of a sudden it became one of the best colognes out there. I was doing appearances; 15,000, 18,000, 20,000 people were showing up outside of Saks Fifth Avenue."

From Fox News ● Aug. 20, 2021

Mr. Fernandéz looked in a mirror, lined with boxes of Bulgari and Fendi colognes, and reached over the fence of Mr. Esteves’s hair to pluck up wilted locks within.

From New York Times ● Aug. 14, 2015

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

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