What does perfume mean?

Definitions for perfume
ˈpɜr fyum, pərˈfyum; pərˈfyum, ˈpɜr fyumper·fume

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word perfume.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. aroma, fragrance, perfume, scentnoun

    a distinctive odor that is pleasant

  2. perfume, essenceverb

    a toiletry that emits and diffuses a fragrant odor

  3. perfume, aromatize, aromatiseverb

    fill or impregnate with an odor

    "orange blossoms perfumed the air in the garden"

  4. perfume, scentverb

    apply perfume to

    "She perfumes herself every day"

Wiktionary

  1. perfumenoun

    A pleasant smell; the scent, odor, or odoriferous particles emitted from a sweet-smelling substance; a pleasant odor; fragrance; aroma.

  2. perfumenoun

    A substance created to provide a pleasant smell or one which emits an agreeable odor.

  3. perfumeverb

    To apply perfume to; to fill or impregnate with a perfume; to scent.

  4. Etymology: From parfum, from the obsolete parfumare "to smoke through"

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. PERFUMEnoun

    Etymology: parfume, Fr.

    Pomanders and knots of powders for drying rheums are not so strong as perfumes; you may have them continually in your hand, whereas perfumes you can take but at times. Francis Bacon.

    Perfumes, though gross bodies that may be sensibly wasted, yet fill the air, so that we can put our nose in no part of the room where a perfume is burned, but we smell it. Digby.

    No rich perfumes refresh the fruitful field,
    Nor fragrant herbs their native incense yield. Alexander Pope.

  2. To Perfumeverb

    To scent; to impregnate with sweet scent.

    Etymology: from the noun.

    Your papers
    Let me have them very well perfum’d,
    For she is sweeter than perfume itself
    To whom they go. William Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew.

    Why rather, sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs,
    And husht with buzzing night-flies to thy slumber,
    Than in the perfum’d chambers of the great,
    Under the canopies of costly state,
    And lull’d with sounds of sweetest melody? William Shakespeare.

    Then will I raise aloft the milk-white rose,
    With whose sweet smell the air shall be perfum’d. William Shakespeare.

    The distilled water of wild poppy, mingled at half with rose water, take with some mixture of a few cloves in a perfuming pan. Francis Bacon, Natural History.

    Smells adhere to hard bodies; as in perfuming of gloves, which sheweth them corporeal. Francis Bacon, Nat. Hist.

    The pains she takes are vainly meant,
    To hide her amorous heart,
    ’Tis like perfuming an ill scent,
    The smell’s too strong for art. George Granville.

    See spicy clouds from lowly Sharon rise,
    And Carmel’s flow’ry top perfumes the skies! Alexander Pope.

Wikipedia

  1. Perfume

    Perfume (UK: , US: ; French: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. The 1939 Nobel Laureate for Chemistry, Leopold Ružička stated in 1945 that "right from the earliest days of scientific chemistry up to the present time, perfumes have substantially contributed to the development of organic chemistry as regards methods, systematic classification, and theory."Ancient texts and archaeological excavations show the use of perfumes in some of the earliest human civilizations. Modern perfumery began in the late 19th century with the commercial synthesis of aroma compounds such as vanillin or coumarin, which allowed for the composition of perfumes with smells previously unattainable solely from natural aromatics.

ChatGPT

  1. perfume

    Perfume is a fragrant liquid typically made from essential oils extracted from flowers and spices, used to give a pleasant scent to one's body or clothes. It is a combination of various ingredients like alcohol, water, and natural or artificial fragrances, intended to provide a long-lasting aroma.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Perfumeverb

    to fill or impregnate with a perfume; to scent

  2. Perfume

    the scent, odor, or odoriferous particles emitted from a sweet-smelling substance; a pleasant odor; fragrance; aroma

  3. Perfume

    a substance that emits an agreeable odor

  4. Etymology: [F. parfumer (cf. Sp. perfumar); par (see Par) + fumer to smoke, L. fumare, fr. fumus smoke. See Fume.]

Wikidata

  1. Perfume

    Perfume or parfum is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds, fixatives and solvents used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living spaces "a pleasant scent." Perfumes have been known to exist in some of the earliest human civilizations, either through ancient texts or from archaeological digs. Modern perfumery began in the late 19th century with the commercial synthesis of aroma compounds such as vanillin or coumarin, which allowed for the composition of perfumes with smells previously unattainable solely from natural aromatics alone.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Perfume

    pėr′fūm, or pėr-fūm′, n. sweet-smelling smoke: sweet scent: anything which yields a sweet odour.—v.t. (pėr-fūm′) to fill with a pleasant odour: to scent.—adj. Perfū′matory, yielding perfume.—ns. Per′fume-foun′tain, a small appliance for throwing a jet or spray of perfume; Perfū′mer, one who or that which perfumes: one who makes or sells perfumes; Perfū′mery, perfumes in general: the art of preparing perfumes; Per′fume-set, a set of articles for the toilet-table.—adj. Per′fūmy. [Fr. parfum—L. per, through, fumus, smoke.]

The Roycroft Dictionary

  1. perfume

    Any smell that is used to down a worse one.

U.S. National Library of Medicine

  1. Perfume

    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. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

Editors Contribution

  1. perfume

    A type of product.

    Perfume is created and produced worldwide and loved and used by many.


    Submitted by MaryC on May 20, 2016  

Suggested Resources

  1. perfume

    Song lyrics by perfume -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by perfume on the Lyrics.com website.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of perfume in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of perfume in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of perfume in a Sentence

  1. Rita Rudner:

    To attract men, I wear a perfume called ``New Car Interior.'

  2. Berenice Lurton:

    It is a luxury perfume in the glass, and the taste of it is a perfect melding of sweetness and freshness, for me, it is nothing but sensuality in a glass.

  3. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

    The adoration of his heart had been to her only as the perfume of a wild flower, which she had carelessly crushed with her foot in passing.

  4. Gianluca Foa:

    The Acqua di Rose is still one of our best-selling products; of course it's now used as an astringent toner and perfume rather than a disinfectant.

  5. Ralph Waldo Emerson:

    Happiness is a perfume which you cannot pour on someone without getting some on yourself.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

perfume#1#5696#10000

Translations for perfume

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"perfume." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/perfume>.

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