Word of the Day
Thursday, December 12, 2002
fetid
\FET-id; FEE-tid\ , adjective;
1.
Having an offensive smell; stinking.
Quotes:
The air was fetid, heavy as the breath of a large animal.
-- Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, Bad Dreams
He grew up between the river and the vineyard-covered slopes, between the fetid smell of the tannery and the fine aroma of crushed grapes.
-- Patrice Debré, Louis Pasteur (translated by Elborg Forster)
Origin:
Fetid derives from Latin fetidus, from fetere, "to stink."
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