petrichor
pe·tri·chor/ˈpɛt.ɹɪˌkɔɹnoun
petrichor is spelled P-E-T-R-I-C-H-O-R: 9 letters and 3 syllables (pe·tri·chor). It appears about once in every 25 million words in written English, the 152,206th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, petrichor means “The distinctive scent, caused by geosmin, which accompanies the first rain after a long, warm, dry spell” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in petrichor?
| Letters | 9: P-E-T-R-I-C-H-O-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: pe·tri·chor |
| In writing | about once in every 25 million words; the 152,206th 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 petrichor?
Petrichor appears about once in every 25 million words in written English, the 152,206th 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 petrichor?
- UK /ˈpɛt.ɹɪ.kə
- UK -ˌkɔː/
- US /ˈpɛt.ɹɪˌkɔɹ
Petrichor has 3 syllables, split pe·tri·chor in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-ca-petrichor.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does petrichor mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The distinctive scent, caused by geosmin, which accompanies the first rain after a long, warm, dry spell.
- 2
The yellow organic oil that yields this scent.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Petrichor in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense distinctive scent which accompanies rain:
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 petrichor come from?
From petr(o)- + ichor. Coined by Australian scientist Richard Grenfell Thomas in 1964 for the article “Nature of Argillaceous Odour”, co-authored by Isabel Joy Bear and published in the journal Nature.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).