olfaction means the sense of smell; the detection of airborne molecules. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 79 out of 100.
Why this word is great
OLFACTION — [Noun] The physiological sense and perceptual capacity for detecting and identifying airborne chemical molecules. From Middle French olfaction, from Latin olfactus, the perfect passive participle of olfacere ("to smell"), from olēre ("to smell") + facere ("to make, do"). Unlike "anosmia" (which denotes a clinical loss) or "odor" (which names the scent itself), olfaction is the active, unremarkable faculty of reception. It is the sharp, synaptic flare of pine resin on a winter path; the primal, silent alarm of smoke in the night air; the faint, heart-piercing trace of a loved one’s abandoned sweater—a wordless, ancient conversation between the world’s volatile essences and the brain’s most archaic archives.
noun
- The sense of smell; the detection of airborne molecules.“‘I think the single most extraordinary aspect of olfaction is that we all smell the world differently,’ Beauchamp told me.”