What is the word for "the smell of rain"?
I've always noticed that sometimes rain can have a pretty distinct smell.
Do we have a word describing the smell of rain? How can we describe the smell of rain?
"The rain smelt like..."
"The rain had a ... scent."
Solution 1:
I'm surprised this question isn't a dupe, and this word has never been offered as an answer to this question before. It's a famous example of a specific word for a specific sensation.
petrichor
/ˈpeˌtrīkôr/
noun
a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather.
other than the petrichor emanating from the rapidly drying grass, there was not a trace of evidence that it had rained at all
This particular definition is from Oxford Dictionaries Online (ODO).
Solution 2:
While petrichor is the fabulous word that describes the perceived smell, it may also be helpful to know that geosmin is the word that describes the distinctive aromatic source of this smell:
From wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geosmin)
Geosmin is an organic compound with a distinct earthy flavor and aroma produced by a type of Actinobacteria, and is responsible for the earthy taste of beets and a contributor to the strong scent (petrichor) that occurs in the air when rain falls after a dry spell of weather or when soil is disturbed.[1] In chemical terms, it is a bicyclic alcohol with formula C12H22O, a derivative of decalin. Its name is derived from the Greek γεω- "earth" and ὀσμή "smell".
Solution 3:
Interestingly enough (and thanks to a bit of Googling), there is a specific word for the smell accompanying rain — petrichor. Essentially what you smell is whatever combination of primarily oils, bacterial spores, ground-detritus, and ozone is present in the air and on the ground, and which was stirred about and released into the air when the rain came.
Definition: That distinctively pleasant fragrance of rain falling on dry ground. It is produced by oily, yellow-gold globules, rather like perfume, that come either from certain plants or the air itself. (Alpha Dictionary)
Example Sentence: It's been raining for several days this week but our noses can't smell the petrichor because our showers are falling on saturated ground, ice filled pools, and grey piles of our most recent snowstorm's remnants. (Oxford Dictionaries)
(source -- http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-makes-rain-smell-so-good-13806085/?no-ist)