bibliosmia

English edit

Etymology edit

From biblio- (“book”) +‎ -osmia (“smell”). Coined on 24 February 2014 by English lecturer and author Oliver Tearle in a now-deleted tweet,^[1] originally as “the act of smelling books”.^[2]

Noun edit

bibliosmia (uncountable)

(literature, neologism) The pleasant smell and aroma of a new (or any) book, caused by the gradual chemical breakdown of the compounds used within the paper.

References edit

^ Oliver Tearle (2017 July) “On the Science of Bibliosmia: That Enticing Book Smell”, in Dispatches from the Secret Library‎^[1], InterestingLiterature: “Real books have their own smell, so Bradbury was right that this is something missing from the electronic book. In 2014, while bored on Twitter one lunchtime, I proposed that we call this phenomenon 'bibliosmia', after the Greek words for 'book' and 'smell'.”
^ Oliver Tearle (2014 May 9) “10 Words Every Book Lover Should Know”, in HuffPost‎^[2]:
I'll leave you with my own suggestion, BIBLIOSMIA -- meaning the act of smelling books, especially as a way of getting a 'fix' from the aroma of old tomes. Let's get this coinage out there -- I reckon there are more bibliosmiacs out there than many people would realise. It's time we stood up, book in hand, to be counted.

[1] Oliver Tearle (2017 July) “On the Science of Bibliosmia: That Enticing Book Smell”, in Dispatches from the Secret Library‎^[1], InterestingLiterature: “Real books have their own smell, so Bradbury was right that this is something missing from the electronic book. In 2014, while bored on Twitter one lunchtime, I proposed that we call this phenomenon 'bibliosmia', after the Greek words for 'book' and 'smell'.”

[2] Oliver Tearle (2014 May 9) “10 Words Every Book Lover Should Know”, in HuffPost‎^[2]:
I'll leave you with my own suggestion, BIBLIOSMIA -- meaning the act of smelling books, especially as a way of getting a 'fix' from the aroma of old tomes. Let's get this coinage out there -- I reckon there are more bibliosmiacs out there than many people would realise. It's time we stood up, book in hand, to be counted.

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