Word of the day · 10 September 2026
petrichor
/ˈpɛtrɪkɔːr/
noun
The pleasant earthy smell that rises when rain falls on dry ground.
In a sentence
- After weeks without rain, the garden filled with petrichor as the first shower hit the path.
- She opened the window for the petrichor, not for the cool air.
- Writers reach for petrichor when “earthy” feels too vague and “musty” feels too wrong.
Origin
Coined in 1964 by Australian researchers Isabel Joy Bear and R. G. Thomas from Greek petra (stone) and ichor (the fluid said to flow in the veins of the gods).
History
People had always noticed the smell after a dry spell. Bear and Thomas gave it a scientific name while studying oily compounds that plants and soil release and that rain aerosolizes into the air. The word moved from journals into ordinary English because it named something everyone recognized but could not quite label.
Nearby words
earthy · humid · aerosol
A modern word for an old scent: wet dust, warm stone and the first minutes of rain.