Word of the Day podcast for June 4th.
Today's word is redolent, spelled R-E-D-O-L-E-N-T.
Redolent is an adjective.
As a synonym of aromatic, the word redolent can describe something
that has a noticeable smell without specifying the scent.
But more often, it is accompanied by of or with and means full of a specified fragrance, as in redolent with incense.
Redolent can also describe something that causes thoughts or memories of something, as in music redolent of the 1980s.
Here's the word used in a sentence from the Chicago Tribune.
The store is redolent with the aroma of warm chocolate
and an ambiance evoking the agricultural roots of cacao with plants and growing tunnels.
Redolent traces back to the Latin verb olere, meaning to smell,
and is a relative of olfactory, meaning of, relating to, or connected with the sense of smell.
In its earliest English uses in the 15th century, redolent simply meant having an aroma.
Today, it usually applies to a place or thing permeated with odors.
Scent and memory are famously linked,
and an extended use of redolent to mean evocative or suggestive links them again, as in lollipops redolent of childhood.
With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.
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