Etymograph

English

smell

Smell comes from Middle English smellen, from Old English *smiellan ‘to emit fumes’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *smel- ‘to burn, smoulder’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*smel-1‘to burn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*smalljan1‘to glow’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150*smiellan1‘to fume’reconstructed
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500smellen1‘to sense a smell or smells’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1552smell1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English smell
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1552, Hughe Latymer [i.e., [The First Sermon]: “So from that tyme forwarde I began to ſmell…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*smel-Wiktionary, English smell‘to burn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*smalljanWiktionary, English smell‘to glow’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150*smiellanWiktionary, English smell‘to fume’reconstructed
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500smellenWiktionary, English smell‘to sense a smell or smells’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1552smellWiktionary, English smell. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1552, Hughe Latymer [i.e., [The First Sermon]: “So from that tyme forwarde I began to ſmell…”

The story

The noun is from Middle English smel, smil, smul (‘smell, odour’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

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Today it means

noun A sensation, pleasant or unpleasant, detected by inhaling air (or, the case of water-breathing animals, water) carrying airborne molecules of a substance.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “smell”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *smel- / smell