SCENT
What does "SCENT" mean?
A distinctive smell, especially a pleasant one, or the trail of odor an animal leaves.
Meanings
- A pleasant or characteristic smell. The scent of rain on dry earth filled the garden.
- The odor trail left by an animal or person, followed by trackers or hounds. The hounds picked up the fox's scent at the hedge.
- A perfume or fragrance. She wears the same scent her grandmother wore.
- To detect or begin to suspect something. The reporter scented a cover-up in the missing files. figurative
Did you know?
- The 'c' in 'scent' is a spelling fossil with no etymological reason - the word came from Latin 'sentire' as 'sent', and writers added a silent 'c' around the 1600s, likely by analogy with words like 'science'.
Word origin
From Old French 'sentir' ('to feel, perceive, smell'), from Latin 'sentire' ('to perceive'); the silent 'c' was added in English around the 17th century by analogy with words like 'science'.
Remember it
SCENT has a silent C right after the S - the 'cent' you can't hear, like a smell you can't see.
A little poem
A door left open-
her scent crosses the threshold
before her footsteps.
haiku
Wordplay
- I gave my perfume away for free. It was a scent with no cents.
What it teaches
A scent reaches you before its source does; some truths announce themselves before you can see them.
Quick facts
What does SCENT mean?
A distinctive smell, especially a pleasant one, or the trail of odor an animal leaves.
Is SCENT a valid word?
Yes — SCENT is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is SCENT?
SCENT has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does SCENT come from?
From Old French 'sentir' ('to feel, perceive, smell'), from Latin 'sentire' ('to perceive'); the silent 'c' was added in English around the 17th century by analogy with words like 'science'.
What can SCENT teach us?
A scent reaches you before its source does; some truths announce themselves before you can see them.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.