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nosegay

noun
/ˈnəʊzɡeɪ/UK/ˈnoʊzˌɡeɪ/US

Etymology

From Late Middle English nōsegai (?), from nōse (“nose”) (from Old English nosu, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nas- (“nose”)) + gai (“a bright or gay object; an ornament”) (from Old French gai (“cheerful, gay, happy”)); equivalent to nose + gay.

  1. derived from gai
  2. derived from *nas-✻
  3. inherited from nosu
  4. inherited from nōsegai

Definitions

  1. A small bunch of fragrant flowers or herbs tied in a bundle, often presented as a gift

    A small bunch of fragrant flowers or herbs tied in a bundle, often presented as a gift; nosegays were originally intended to be put to the nose for the pleasant sensation or to mask unpleasant odours.

  2. An aroma, a scent.

    • The 80-year-old Government Opium and Alkaloid Works in Neemuch smells better than it looks. The turfy-chocolaty nosegay of raw opium wafts from hundreds of milk cans.

The neighborhood

Derived

nosegayed

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for nosegay. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA