geosmin
UK/d͡ʒiːˈɒz.mɪn/US/d͡ʒiˈɑz.mɪn/
geosmin noun: a bacterial derivative of decahydronaphthalene that has a strong earthy smell and is the material responsible for petrichor and for the earthy taste of beetroot.
Noun
geosmin (countable and uncountable, plural geosmins)
- A bacterial derivative of decahydronaphthalene that has a strong earthy smell and is the material responsible for petrichor and for the earthy taste of beetroot.
- A good example of this is geosmin, for which a typical sensitivity for the human nose is below 10 parts per trillion (10 parts in 10¹⁸ v/v) (ppt).1998, F. Colin, Ph. Quevauviller, Monitoring of Water Quality, Elsevier, →ISBN, page 151
- A. versicolor may be one of the major producers of the moldy smelling component, geosmin, in buildings (Bjurman and Kristensson 1992).2011, Olaf C.G. Adan, Robert A. Samson, Fundamentals of mold growth in indoor environments and strategies for healthy living, Springer, →ISBN, page 255
Forms of geosmin
| plural | geosmins |
|---|
Origin of geosmin
From Ancient Greek γεω- (geō-, “earth”) + ὀσμή (osmḗ, “smell”) + -in. Coined by American biochemist Nancy N. Gerber and French-American biologist Hubert A. Lechevalier in 1965.
Questions about geosmin
- What does geosmin mean?
- Geosmin means a bacterial derivative of decahydronaphthalene that has a strong earthy smell and is the material responsible for petrichor and for the earthy taste of beetroot.
- What part of speech is geosmin?
- Geosmin is a noun.
- How do you pronounce geosmin?
- Geosmin is pronounced /d͡ʒiːˈɒz.mɪn/ (UK).
- What is the plural of geosmin?
- The plural of geosmin is geosmins.
Words near geosmin in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: geosmin (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “geosmin.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/geosmin. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.