Post by t-bob on Feb 28, 2019 10:03:05 GMT -5
PETRICHOR
Noun
1. a distinctive scent, usually described as earthy, pleasant, or sweet, produced by rainfall on very dry ground.
Quotes
I surfaced from the tunnel in a shack, where the air was close and smelled of petrichor. -- Samantha Shannon, The Mime Order, 2015 So whether rainfall reminds you of summer soccer games, puddle-splashing with siblings or a terrifying storm, thank (or blame) the planets, microbes and minerals that give petrichor such a distinctive odor. -- Marissa Fessenden, "High-Speed Video Shows When The Smell of Rain Begins," Smithsonian.com, January 20, 2015
Origin
Petrichor is an uncommon word used in mineral chemistry or geochemistry to describe the pleasant scent of rain falling on very dry ground. Petrichor is a compound of the Greek nouns pétrā “rock, stone” (as in petroleum “rock oil”) and īchṓr, the juice or liquid—not blood!—that flows in the veins of the Olympian gods. About 60 percent of ancient Greek words have no satisfactory etymology; īchṓr is one of them. Petrichor was coined by two Australian chemists, Isabel “Joy” Bear and Richard Grenfell Thomas, in 1964.
Noun
1. a distinctive scent, usually described as earthy, pleasant, or sweet, produced by rainfall on very dry ground.
Quotes
I surfaced from the tunnel in a shack, where the air was close and smelled of petrichor. -- Samantha Shannon, The Mime Order, 2015 So whether rainfall reminds you of summer soccer games, puddle-splashing with siblings or a terrifying storm, thank (or blame) the planets, microbes and minerals that give petrichor such a distinctive odor. -- Marissa Fessenden, "High-Speed Video Shows When The Smell of Rain Begins," Smithsonian.com, January 20, 2015
Origin
Petrichor is an uncommon word used in mineral chemistry or geochemistry to describe the pleasant scent of rain falling on very dry ground. Petrichor is a compound of the Greek nouns pétrā “rock, stone” (as in petroleum “rock oil”) and īchṓr, the juice or liquid—not blood!—that flows in the veins of the Olympian gods. About 60 percent of ancient Greek words have no satisfactory etymology; īchṓr is one of them. Petrichor was coined by two Australian chemists, Isabel “Joy” Bear and Richard Grenfell Thomas, in 1964.