geosmin
/d͡ʒiˈɑz.mɪn/noun
geosmin is spelled G-E-O-S-M-I-N: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 63 million words in written English, the 249,463rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, geosmin means “A bacterial derivative of decahydronaphthalene that has a strong earthy smell and is the material responsible for petrichor and for the earthy taste…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of geosmin is geosmins.
How many letters and syllables are in geosmin?
| Letters | 7: G-E-O-S-M-I-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 63 million words; the 249,463rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is geosmin?
Geosmin appears about once in every 63 million words in written English, the 249,463rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce geosmin?
- UK /d͡ʒiːˈɒz.mɪn/
- US /d͡ʒiˈɑz.mɪn/
Geosmin has 3 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of geosmin
- geosmins plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does geosmin mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A bacterial derivative of decahydronaphthalene that has a strong earthy smell and is the material responsible for petrichor and for the earthy taste of beetroot.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Geosmin in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense compound:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | geosmina |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does geosmin come from?
From Ancient Greek γεω- (geō-, “earth”) + ὀσμή (osmḗ, “smell”) + -in. Coined by American biochemist Nancy N. Gerber and French-American biologist Hubert A. Lechevalier in 1965.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).