olfactory

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 26, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>olfactory</strong> &#149; \ahl-FAK-tuh-ree\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p><em>Olfactory</em> describes things that have to do with the sense of smell.</p> <p>// Few can deny the <em>olfactory</em> pleasures of fresh-baked bread, sea breezes, and apple blossoms—all scents with the power to trigger intense nostalgia. </p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/olfactory">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>“Dogs are uniquely positioned to collect data that helps humans track and preserve endangered species—and find invasive species—because of their exceptional sense of smell. Dogs have millions more <em>olfactory</em> receptor cells than humans.” — Sydney Page, <em>The Washington Post</em>, 9 Sept. 2023</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>No, <em>olfactory</em> is not a noun meaning “a place that makes scents”; for that, you want <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perfumery"><em>perfumery</em></a>, which makes more sense. <em>Olfactory</em> is instead an adjective used to describe things related to one’s sense of smell, that which lets you detect fruit with your <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snoot">snoot</a>, a leek with your beak, <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shiraz">Shiraz</a> with your <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/schnozz">schnozz</a>. <em>Olfactory</em> comes from the Latin word <em>olfacere</em> (“to smell”), which in turn combines two verbs, <em>olēre</em> (“to give off a smell”) and <em>facere</em> (“to do”). It often appears in scientific contexts (as in “olfactory nerves,” the nerves that pass from the nose to the brain and contain the receptors that make smelling possible), but it is occasionally used in less technic