Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

geosmin

/d͡ʒiˈɑz.mɪn/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.20 in modern English

Syllables: geosmin
IPA: /d͡ʒiˈɑz.mɪn/

10

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

1

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

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.

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"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)."
"A. versicolor may be one of the major producers of the moldy smelling component, geosmin, in buildings (Bjurman and Kristensson 1992)."
"Beetroots: The flavor is decisively characterized by the earthy note of geosmin"

Etymology

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.

Origin

Source language: Ancient Greek

Word Breakdown

Root: γῆ
Suffix: in

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /d͡ʒiˈɑz.mɪn/
British English: /d͡ʒiːˈɒz.mɪn/

Usage

Inflected Forms

geosmins (plural)

Questions

How do you pronounce geosmin?: The recorded pronunciation is /d͡ʒiˈɑz.mɪn/.
What does geosmin mean?: 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.
Where does geosmin come from?: It is traced to Ancient Greek.

How to pronounce geosmin

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “geosmin”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/d͡ʒiˈɑz.mɪn/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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Repeat and practice — Say “geosmin” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.