petrichor

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
16
Words With Friends
17
Letters
9
Pronunciation
/ˈpɛt.ɹɪ.kə
See all 4 pronunciations
/ˈpɛt.ɹɪ.kə · -ˌkɔː/ · /ˈpɛt.ɹɪˌkɔɹ (US) · -kɚ/ (US)

Definition of petrichor

2 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. (uncountable)The distinctive scent, caused by geosmin, which accompanies the first rain after a long, warm, dry spell.
    “Though it had yet to begin raining, the familiar smell of petrichor appeared to be already present and Neelam suddenly wished she was sitting at home with a nice cup of tea and a good book.”
    “The sources of the heavenly scent during and immediately after it rains are petrichor and geosmin. Petricor is an oil produced by plants then absorbed by rocks and soil and released into the air during rainfall.”
See all 2 definitions

noun

  1. (uncountable)The distinctive scent, caused by geosmin, which accompanies the first rain after a long, warm, dry spell.
    “Though it had yet to begin raining, the familiar smell of petrichor appeared to be already present and Neelam suddenly wished she was sitting at home with a nice cup of tea and a good book.”
    “The sources of the heavenly scent during and immediately after it rains are petrichor and geosmin. Petricor is an oil produced by plants then absorbed by rocks and soil and released into the air during rainfall.”
  2. (uncountable)The yellow organic oil that yields this scent.
    “He hypothesizes that this factor may be petrichor, an oil which has been isolated from silicate minerals and rocks[…].”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From petr(o)- + ichor. Coined by Australian scientist Richard Grenfell Thomas in 1964 for the article “Nature of Argillaceous Odour”, co-authored by Isabel Joy Bear and published in the journal Nature.

Anagrams of petrichor

3 plays · some not in Scrabble

Best play chiropter 16 points

Words you can make from petrichor

200+ playable · top: CHIROPTER (16 pts)

Best play chiropter 16 points

8-letter words

3 words

7-letter words

8 words

6-letter words

39 words

5-letter words

56 words

4-letter words

66 words

3-letter words

27 words

Hooks

1 extension · 1 back

A single letter you can add to petrichor to make another valid word.

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