fetor
or foe·tor
[fee-ter]
- a strong, offensive smell; stench.
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Origin of fetor
1475–1500; < Latin, equivalent to fēt- (stem of fētēre to stink) + -or -or1; replacing earlier fetour < Middle French < Latin fētōr-, stem of fētor
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for fetor
Historical Examples
The fetor of the skin, so characteristic of the negro, is not found in the Bushman.
Fetor of the breath, the perspiration and the skin are likewise noticeable.
Gilbertus AnglicusHenry Ebenezer Handerson
Do they, as many saints have done, smell the fetor of sin, the foul reek of evil in the souls that pass by them?
The CathedralJoris-Karl Huysmans
Fetor exhaled from its gaping jaws, smoke from its nostrils; its eyes were flame.
The Romance of Leonardo da VinciDmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky
When fetor exists, as during the detachment of patches of exudation, antiseptic and detergent sprays may be employed.
fetor
foetor
- an offensive stale or putrid odour; stench
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Word Origin
C15: from Latin, from fētēre to stink
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for fetor
n.
"offensive smell," mid-15c., from Latin fetor, foetor, from fetere (see fetid).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
fetor
(fē′tər, -tôr′)- A very offensive odor.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.