Much of the language of perfume is French, because France — and Grasse and Paris especially — shaped the modern industry. The words you will meet most often are the concentrations (eau de cologne, eau de toilette, eau de parfum, parfum, extrait), the families (chypre, fougère), and terms for how a perfume behaves and is made (sillage, jus, nez, accord, soliflore, flacon). This glossary translates each and explains how it is used in English.
On the bottle: concentrations
- Eau de cologne — "water of Cologne"; the lightest traditional strength. See The History of Eau de Cologne.
- Eau fraîche — "fresh water"; a very light, often citrusy fragrance.
- Eau de toilette — from toilette, the act of getting dressed and groomed; a light-to-moderate strength.
- Eau de parfum — "perfume water"; richer than eau de toilette.
- Parfum — "perfume"; on a bottle, usually the most concentrated strength.
- Extrait (de parfum) — "extract"; another name for the most concentrated strength.
See Perfume Concentrations Explained and Eau de Parfum vs Eau de Toilette.
Families and styles
- Chypre — "Cyprus"; a structure of citrus over oakmoss. See What Is a Chypre Perfume?.
- Fougère — "fern"; lavender, coumarin and moss. See What Is a Fougère Fragrance?.
- Gourmand — "a lover of good food"; edible-smelling perfumes. See Gourmand Perfumes.
- Cuir — "leather". See Leather Fragrances.
- Soliflore — "single flower"; a perfume built around one flower. See Floral Fragrances.
- Fleuri — "floral"; often in descriptions such as floral boisé (woody floral).
- Boisé — "woody".
- Ambré — "ambery"; warm and resinous. See Amber Fragrances.
How a perfume behaves
- Sillage — "wake", as of a boat; the trail a perfume leaves as you move. See Sillage, Projection and Longevity.
- Tenue — "hold"; longevity.
- Note de tête, de cœur, de fond — top, heart and base notes. See Top, Heart and Base.
- Fond — "base" or "bottom"; the base of a perfume, or a base used to build one.
To smell like a perfumer, you don’t need to speak French. But it helps to know which words they borrowed.
How a perfume is made
- Nez — "nose"; an informal name for a perfumer. See What Does a Perfumer Do?.
- Jus — "juice"; the perfume liquid itself, as distinct from the bottle.
- Accord — "chord", as in music; a blend of materials that makes one impression. See The Architecture of a Fragrance.
- Orgue — "organ"; the perfumer’s tiered desk of materials.
- Mouillette — a paper smelling strip; from mouiller, to wet. See How to Test a Perfume.
- Enfleurage — extracting scent from flowers into fat. See How Perfume Ingredients Are Extracted.
- Absolu — absolute; a concentrated flower extract.
- Maison — "house"; a perfume brand, especially an established one.
- Flacon — "bottle"; often used for a perfume bottle.
Pronunciation, roughly
- Chypre — sheep-ruh.
- Fougère — foo-zhair.
- Sillage — see-yahzh.
- Eau de toilette — oh duh twah-let.
- Extrait — ex-treh.
- Nez — nay.
Why French?
From the seventeenth century, Grasse produced many of perfume’s natural materials, and from the nineteenth, Paris houses defined much of the modern industry. Their vocabulary travelled with their perfumes. See the story of Grasse and A Short History of Perfume.
Common questions
What does "eau de toilette" literally mean?
"Toilet water", in the old sense of toilette: the routine of washing, dressing and grooming.
What is the difference between parfum and extrait?
They usually mean the same most-concentrated strength; brands use them differently.
What does "jus" mean in perfume?
The perfume liquid — "the juice".
Further reading
For a plain-language introduction to perfume as a whole, see Perfume for Beginners. Perfumers looking for the working vocabulary of the bench — absolutes, isolates, fixatives and more — will find it in RUŌOD Lab’s Perfumery Glossary.
