Word of the Day: Petrichor

 

Petrichor (PET-ri-kuhr) noun:

The pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain after a dry spell. [From petro- (rock), from Greek petros (stone) + ichor (the fluid that is supposed to flow in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology).  Coined by researchers I.J. Bear and R.G. Thomas.] "Petrichor, the name for the smell of rain on dry ground, is from oils given off by vegetation, absorbed onto neighboring surfaces, and released into the air after a first rain."  (Matthew Bettelheim; Nature's Laboratory; Shasta Parent [Mt Shasta, California]; Jan 2002.) "But, even in the other pieces, her prose breaks into passages of lyrical beauty that come as a sorely needed revivifying petrichor amid the pitiless glare of callousness and cruelty."  (Pradip Bhattacharya; Forest Interludes; Indianest.com; Jul 29, 2001.) (From wordsmith.org)

Comments

[Mark Neal]

Thanks! I love that smell and now I have a word for it!