perfume
[noun pur-fyoom, per-fyoom; verb per-fyoom, pur-fyoom]
- a substance, extract, or preparation for diffusing or imparting an agreeable or attractive smell, especially a fluid containing fragrant natural oils extracted from flowers, woods, etc., or similar synthetic oils.
- the scent, odor, or volatile particles emitted by substances that smell agreeable.
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- (of substances, flowers, etc.) to impart a pleasant fragrance to.
- to impregnate with a sweet odor; scent.
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Origin of perfume
Synonyms
See more synonyms for perfume on Thesaurus.com1. essence, attar, scent; incense. 2. Perfume, aroma, fragrance all refer to agreeable odors. Perfume often indicates a strong, rich smell, natural or manufactured: the perfume of flowers. Fragrance is usually applied to fresh, delicate, and delicious odors, especially from growing things: fragrance of new-mown hay. Aroma is restricted to a somewhat spicy smell: the aroma of coffee.
Antonyms
2. stench.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for perfume
Contemporary Examples
Perfume bottles and weathered papyrus replicas gather dust in the grubby window displays of the empty shops.
Before sending it she rubbed her perfume on it like a magical charm.
But the flower I lifted from the table was fresh and fragile and filled the air with perfume.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the ShowRobert W. Chambers
February 20, 2014
He reached up to the front seat, took my hand by the wrist and rubbed the perfume from his palm to mine.
Abu Hassar nodded and took a small vial of perfume from his Adidas sweatshirt.
Historical Examples
She had taken the bouquet of violets and breathed the perfume to cool her feverishness.
The DreamEmile Zola
"They soon lose their perfume," replied the sombre Old Year.
The Sister Years (From "Twice Told Tales")Nathaniel Hawthorne
How far away all that already was, and with what perfume had it not filled his life!
The Three Cities Trilogy, CompleteEmile Zola
In vain they woo him with their beauteous eyes and breath of perfume.
The perfume of violet scent was almost unbearable, but he did not flinch.
The AvengerE. Phillips Oppenheim
perfume
- a mixture of alcohol and fragrant essential oils extracted from flowers, spices, etc, or made synthetically, used esp to impart a pleasant long-lasting scent to the body, stationery, etcSee also cologne, toilet water
- a scent or odour, esp a fragrant one
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- (tr) to impart a perfume to
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Word Origin
C16: from French parfum, probably from Old Provençal perfum, from perfumar to make scented, from per through (from Latin) + fumar to smoke, from Latin fumāre to smoke
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 perfume
n.
1530s, "fumes from a burning substance," from Middle French parfum (16c.), from parfumer "to scent," from Old Provençal perfumar or cognate words in dialectal Italian (perfumare) or Spanish (perfumar), from Latin per- "through" (see per) + fumare "to smoke" (see fume (n.)). Meaning "fluid containing agreeable essences of flowers, etc.," is attested from 1540s.
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v.
1530s, "to fill with smoke or vapor," from perfume (n.) or from Middle French parfumer. Meaning "to impart a sweet scent to" is from 1530s. Related: Perfumed; perfuming.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper