Etymology From Middle English sent (noun) and senten (verb), from Old French sentir (“to feel, perceive, smell, sense”), from Latin sentiō, sentīre (“to feel, sense”). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to feel”), and thus related to Saterland Frisian Sin (“sense”), West Frisian sin (“sense”), Dutch zin (“sense, meaning”), Low German Sinn (“sense”), Luxembourgish Sënn (“sense, perception”), German Sinn (“sense”). The -c- appeared in the 17th century, possibly by influence of ascent, descent, etc., or by influence of science.
1
A distinctive smell.
the scent of flowers / of a skunk
to give off / release / exude a scent
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to breathe in / inhale a scent
hunger and thirst at once, / Powerful perswaders, quick’nd at the scent / Of that alluring fruit,1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 586-588:
The scent of these arm-pits is aroma finer than prayer,1892, Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”, in Leaves of Grass […], Philadelphia, Pa.: David McKay, publisher, […], →OCLC, page 49:
Behind me the forest stood wrapped in mist, its scents still sleeping.1973, Mary Stewart, The Hollow Hills, New York: William Morrow, Book 3, p. 357:
2
A smell left by an animal that may be used for tracing.
The dogs picked up / caught the scent but then quickly lost it.
He […] twice to-day pick’d out the dullest scent; / Trust me, I take him for the better dog.c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
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But see how the dogs puzzle about there. Come, Mr Frank, the scent’s cold;1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], Rob Roy. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 151:
3
The sense of smell.
I believe the bloodhound has the best scent of all dogs.
His houndes espyde him where he was, and Blacksoote first of all / And Stalker speciall good of sent began aloud to call.1567, Ovid, “The Third Booke”, in Arthur Golding, transl., The XV. Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, Entytuled Metamorphosis, […], London: […] Willyam Seres […], →OCLC, folio 33, recto:
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No man can taste the fruits of autumn while he is delighting his scent with the flowers of the spring:1759, Samuel Johnson, chapter 29, in The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, Philadelphia: Robert Bell, published 1768, page 113:
[I]nnumerable flowers, sweet to the scent and the eyes1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter V, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume II, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, page 76:
Keen is the scent of the slaveholder; like the fangs of the rattlesnake, his malice retains its poison long; and, although it is now nearly seventeen years since I made my escape, it is well to be careful, in dealing with the circumstances relating to it.1855, Frederick Douglass, chapter 21, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York; Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […], →OCLC, part I (Life as a Slave), page 322:
4
A substance (usually liquid) created to provide a pleasant smell.
a scent shop
a scent bazaar
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He was drowned in scent—fairly stunk with it, Captain Marlow.1899 September – 1900 July, Joseph Conrad, chapter VI, in Lord Jim: A Tale, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, published 1900, →OCLC, page 66:
He receives deputations from the bazaar, and they all chew betel nut and smear one another’s hands with scent.1924 June 4, E[dward] M[organ] Forster, chapter 22, in A Passage to India, London: Edward Arnold & Co., →OCLC, part II (Caves), page 197:
He took a clean handkerchief (a lovely one such as you couldn’t buy today) out of the little left-hand drawer and put a few drops of scent on it.1955, C. S. Lewis, chapter 6, in The Magician’s Nephew, New York: HarperCollins, published 2010:
He went tripping away under a canvas umbrella, trailing the smell of cheap scent.2014, Damon Galgut, chapter 6, in Arctic Summer, McClelland & Stewart, page 285:
5
Figuratively Any trail or trace that can be followed to find something or someone, such as the paper left behind in a paperchase.
The minister's off-hand remark put journalists on the scent of a cover-up.
The tip put the detectives on a false scent / the wrong scent.
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to pick up a scent / get scent of something
to throw / put someone off the scent
Mrs. Wilkins having […] by Accident, gotten a true Scent of the above Story […] failed not to satisfy herself thoroughly of all the Particulars,1749, Henry Fielding, chapter V, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume I, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book II, page 71:
Before marriage it is their business to please men; and after, with a few exceptions, they follow the same scent with all the persevering pertinacity of instinct.1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, “Some Instances of the Folly which the Ignorance of Women Generates; with Concluding Reflections on the Moral Improvement that a Revolution in Female Manners may Naturally be Expected to Produce”, in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1792, →OCLC, page 435:
A fit false dreame, that can delude the sleepers sent.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 15:
Etymology From Middle English sent (noun) and senten (verb), from Old French sentir (“to feel, perceive, smell, sense”), from Latin sentiō, sentīre (“to feel, sense”). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to feel”), and thus related to Saterland Frisian Sin (“sense”), West Frisian sin (“sense”), Dutch zin (“sense, meaning”), Low German Sinn (“sense”), Luxembourgish Sënn (“sense, perception”), German Sinn (“sense”). The -c- appeared in the 17th century, possibly by influence of ascent, descent, etc., or by influence of science.
1
To detect the scent of; to discern by the sense of smell.
The hounds scented the fox in the woods.
methinks I scent the morning air.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:
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if she had scented danger in the air, as a dog scents the presence of some creature unseen, her alarm could not have displayed itself more suddenly1860, Wilkie Collins, “The Woman in White”, in London, volume 3, Sampson Low, Son, & Co., page 334:
Why, Maggie could scent a fire before it started, almost.1988, Anne Tyler, Breathing Lessons, Penguin, Part 3, Chapter 2, p. 279:
2
Ambitransitive To inhale in order to detect the scent of (something).
I paused to scent the breeze as I entered the valley.1899, W. E. B. Du Bois, “A Negro Schoolmaster in the New South”, in The Atlantic Monthly, volume 83, page 103:
One night he sprang from sleep with a start, eager-eyed, nostrils quivering and scenting,1903, Jack London, chapter 7, in The Call of the Wild, New York: Macmillan, page 201:
3
Figuratively To have a suspicion of; to detect the possibility of (something).
I scented trouble when I saw them running down the hill towards me.
Cope seemed to scent a challenge and accepted it.1919, Henry Blake Fuller, chapter 11, in Bertram Cope’s Year, Chicago: R.F. Seymour, page 105:
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A mysterious scene to me then—yet I scented that there was something momentous about it, though I could not tell what.1978, Lawrence Durrell, chapter 1, in Livia, London: Faber and Faber, page 48:
4
To impart an odour to, to cause to have a particular smell.
Scent the air with burning sage before you begin your meditation.
Balm, from a Silver box distill’d around, / Shall all bedew the roots and scent the sacred ground;1685, John Dryden, “The Epithalamium of Helen and Menelaus”, in Sylvæ, or, The Second Part of Poetical Miscellanies, London: Jacob Tonson, page 105:
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[Vanilla pods] have a fat rich aromatic taste, and most agreeable flavour; on which account they are used to scent the chocolate.1796, John Gabriel Stedman, chapter 25, in Narrative of a Five Years’ Expedition, volume 2, London: J. Johnson & J. Edwards, page 235:
[…] the air […] was scented, not disagreeably, by the chips and shavings of the long-shore boat-builders, and mast oar and block makers.1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter VII, in Great Expectations […], volume III, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 103:
You adorn yourself and scent yourself and sit with him in a comfortable way—1999, Ahdaf Soueif, chapter 18, in The Map of Love, London: Bloomsbury, page 300:
5
Obsolete To have a smell; (figuratively) to give an impression (of something).
Thunderbolts & lightnings […] do sent strongly of brimstone:1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XXXV.] 15.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 2nd tome, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 557:
1647, John Fletcher and Philip Massinger, The False One, Act III, Scene 2, in Fifty Comedies and Tragedies, London: John Martyn et al., p. 325, I smell him now: fie, how the Knave perfumes him, / How strong he scents of Traitor?
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though praying for a wounded Conscience may seemingly scent of pretended humility, it doth really and rankly savour of pride,1647, Thomas Fuller, The Cause and Cure of a Wounded Conscience, London: John Williams, Dialogue 21, page 154: