olfaction
/oʊlˈfækʃən/noun
olfaction is spelled O-L-F-A-C-T-I-O-N: 9 letters. It appears about once in every 11 million words in written English, the 99,289th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, olfaction means “The sense of smell; the detection of airborne molecules” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of olfaction is olfactions.
How many letters and syllables are in olfaction?
| Letters | 9: O-L-F-A-C-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 11 million words; the 99,289th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is olfaction?
Olfaction appears about once in every 11 million words in written English, the 99,289th 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 olfaction?
- US /oʊlˈfækʃən/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Neøn-olfaction.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with olfaction?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as olfaction from its last stressed vowel (/ækʃən/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of olfaction
- olfactions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does olfaction mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The sense of smell; the detection of airborne molecules.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Olfaction in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the sense of smell:
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 olfaction come from?
Borrowed from Middle French olfaction /olefaction, from Latin olfactus, perfect passive participle of olfaciō (“to smell (transitive)”) + -tion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).