*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of smell

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *smel-der. Proto-West Germanic *smalljan Old English *smiellan Middle English smellen English smell From Middle English smellen, smillen, smyllen, smullen, from Old English *smyllan, *s

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
noun

A sensation, pleasant or unpleasant, detected by inhaling air (or, the case of water-breathing animals, water) carrying airborne molecules of a substance. · The sense that detects odours. · A conclusion or intuition that a situation is wrong, more complex than it seems, or otherwise inappropriate.

verb

To sense a smell or smells. · To detect or perceive; often with out. · Followed by like or of if descriptive: to have a particular smell, whether good or bad. · To smell of; to have a smell of

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *smel-der. Proto-West Germanic *smalljan Old English *smiellan Middle English smellen English smell From Middle English smellen, smillen, smyllen, smullen, from Old English *smyllan, *smiellan (“to smell, emit fumes”), from Proto-West Germanic *smallijan (“to glow, burn, smoulder”), from Proto-Indo-European *smel- (“to burn, smoke, smoulder; tar, pitch”). The noun is from Middle English smel, smil, smul (“smell, odour”). Related to Saterland Frisian smeele (“to smoulder”), Middle Dutch smōlen (“to burn, smoulder”) (whence Dutch smeulen (“to smoulder”)), Middle Low German smölen (“to be hazy, be dusty”) (whence Low German smölen (“smoulder”)), Low German smullen (“emit smoke”), West Flemish smoel (“stuffy, muggy, hazy”), Danish smul (“dust, powder”), Lithuanian smilkyti (“to incense, fumigate”), Lithuanian smilkti (“to smudge, smolder, fume, reek”), Lithuanian smalkinti (“to fume”), Middle Irish smál, smól, smúal (“fire, gleed, embers, ashes”), Russian смола́ (smolá, “resin, tar”). Compare smoulder, smother.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 3 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:smellen<id:sense>",
        "id": "sense",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *smel-der.\nProto-West Germanic *smalljan\nOld English *smiellan\nMiddle English smellen\nEnglish smell\n[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*smel-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*smalljan\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"*smiellan\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"smellen\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"smell\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"sense\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"smell\" id=\"English:_sense\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*(s)meld-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "smellen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English smellen"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "*smyllan"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English *smyllan"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*smallijan",
        "t": "to glow, burn, smoulder"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *smallijan (“to glow, burn, smoulder”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*smel-",
        "t": "to burn, smoke, smoulder; tar, pitch"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *smel- (“to burn, smoke, smoulder; tar, pitch”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "smel"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English smel"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "stq",
        "2": "smeele",
        "t": "to smoulder"
      },
      "expansion": "Saterland Frisian smeele (“to smoulder”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "dum",
        "2": "smolen",
        "3": "smōlen",
        "4": "to burn, smoulder"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Dutch smōlen (“to burn, smoulder”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "smeulen",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to smoulder"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch smeulen (“to smoulder”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "gml",
        "2": "smölen",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to be hazy, be dusty"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Low German smölen (“to be hazy, be dusty”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nds",
        "2": "smölen",
        "3": "",
        "4": "smoulder"
      },
      "expansion": "Low German smölen (“smoulder”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nds",
        "2": "smullen",
        "3": "",
        "4": "emit smoke"
      },
      "expansion": "Low German smullen (“emit smoke”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "vls",
        "2": "smoel",
        "3": "",
        "4": "stuffy, muggy, hazy"
      },
      "expansion": "West Flemish smoel (“stuffy, muggy, hazy”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "smul",
        "3": "",
        "4": "dust, powder"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish smul (“dust, powder”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "lt",
        "2": "smilkyti",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to incense, fumigate"
      },
      "expansion": "Lithuanian smilkyti (“to incense, fumigate”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "lt",
        "2": "smilkti",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to smudge, smolder, fume, reek"
      },
      "expansion": "Lithuanian smilkti (“to smudge, smolder, fume, reek”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "lt",
        "2": "smalkinti",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to fume"
      },
      "expansion": "Lithuanian smalkinti (“to fume”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "mga",
        "2": "smál"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Irish smál"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ru",
        "2": "смола́",
        "3": "",
        "4": "resin, tar"
      },
      "expansion": "Russian смола́ (smolá, “resin, tar”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:smellen<id:sense>",
        "id": "sense",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *smel-der.\nProto-West Germanic *smalljan\nOld English *smiellan\nMiddle English smellen\nEnglish smell"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*smel-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/smel-"
    ],
    [
      "*smalljan",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/smalljan#Proto-West_Germanic:_to_burn"
    ],
    [
      "*smiellan",
      "Reconstruction:Old English/smiellan#Old_English:_sense"
    ],
    [
      "smellen",
      "smellen#Middle_English:_sense"
    ],
    [
      "smellen",
      "smellen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "smillen",
      "smillen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "smyllen",
      "smyllen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "smullen",
      "smullen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "*smyllan",
      "Reconstruction:Old English/smyllan"
    ],
    [
      "*smiellan",
      "Reconstruction:Old English/smiellan"
    ],
    [
      "*smallijan",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/smallijan"
    ],
    [
      "*smel-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/smel-"
    ],
    [
      "smel",
      "smel#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "smil",
      "smil#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "smul",
      "smul#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "smeele",
      "smeele#Saterland_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "smōlen",
      "smolen#Middle_Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "smeulen",
      "smeulen#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "smölen",
      "smolen#Middle_Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "smölen",
      "smölen#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "smullen",
      "smullen#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "smoel",
      "smoel#West_Flemish"
    ],
    [
      "smul",
      "smul#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "smilkyti",
      "smilkyti#Lithuanian"
    ],
    [
      "smilkti",
      "smilkti#Lithuanian"
    ],
    [
      "smalkinti",
      "smalkinti#Lithuanian"
    ],
    [
      "smál",
      "smál#Middle_Irish"
    ],
    [
      "smól",
      "smól#Middle_Irish"
    ],
    [
      "smúal",
      "smúal#Middle_Irish"
    ],
    [
      "смола́",
      "смола#Russian"
    ],
    [
      "smoulder",
      "smoulder#English"
    ],
    [
      "smother",
      "smother#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A sensation, pleasant or unpleasant, detected by inhaling air (or, the case of water-breathing animals, water) carrying airborne molecules of a substance.",
        "The sense that detects odours.",
        "A conclusion or intuition that a situation is wrong, more complex than it seems, or otherwise inappropriate."
      ],
      "tags": [
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        "uncountable"
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    },
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To sense a smell or smells.",
        "To detect or perceive; often with out.",
        "Followed by like or of if descriptive: to have a particular smell, whether good or bad.",
        "To smell of; to have a smell of"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive",
        "broadly",
        "copulative",
        "intransitive"
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  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 3,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for smell →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
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Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-c21lbGw