What is "perfume"

Perfume \Per*fume"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Perfumed; p. pr. & vb. n. Perfuming.] [F. parfumer (cf. Sp. perfumar); par (see Par) + fumer to smoke, L. fumare, fr. fumus smoke. See Fume.] To fill or impregnate with a perfume; to scent.

And Carmel's flowery top perfumes the skies.
--Pope.

Perfume \Per"fume\, n. [F. parfum; cf. Sp. perfume. See Perfume, v.]

1. The scent, odor, or odoriferous particles emitted from a sweet-smelling substance; a pleasant odor; fragrance; aroma.

   No rich perfumes refresh the fruitful field.
   --Pope.

2. A substance that emits an agreeable odor.

   And thou shalt make it a perfume.
   --Ex. xxx. 35.

1530s, "fumes from a burning substance," from Middle French parfum (16c.), from parfumer "to scent," from Old Provençal perfumar or cognate words in dialectal Italian (perfumare) or Spanish (perfumar), from Latin per- "through" (see per) + fumare "to smoke" (see fume (n.)). Meaning "fluid containing agreeable essences of flowers, etc.," is attested from 1540s.

1530s, "to fill with smoke or vapor," from perfume (n.) or from Middle French parfumer. Meaning "to impart a sweet scent to" is from 1530s. Related: Perfumed; perfuming.

n. 1 A pleasant smell; the scent, odor, or odoriferous particles emitted from a sweet-smelling substance; a pleasant odor; fragrance; arom

1. 2 A substance created to provide a pleasant smell or one which emits an agreeable odor. v

2. (context transitive English) To apply perfume to; to fill or impregnate with a perfume; to scent.

1. v. fill or impregnate with an odor; "orange blossoms prerfumed the air in the garden" [syn: aromatize, aromatise]

2. apply perfume to; "She perfumes herself every day" [syn: scent]

1. n. a toiletry that emits and diffuses a fragrant odor [syn: essence]

2. a distinctive odor that is pleasant [syn: aroma, fragrance, scent]

Perfume ( ; ) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds, fixatives and solvents - used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces "a pleasant scent".

Ancient texts and archaeological excavations show the use of perfumes in some of the earliest human civilizations. Modern perfumery began in the late 19th century with the commercial synthesis of aroma compounds such as vanillin or coumarin, which allowed for the composition of perfumes with smells previously unattainable solely from natural aromatics alone.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is a 1985 literary historical cross-genre novel (originally published in German as Das Parfum) by German writer Patrick Süskind. The novel explores the sense of smell and its relationship with the emotional meaning that scents may carry. It is a story of identity, communication and the morality of the human spirit.

The story centers on Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, an unloved 18th-century French orphan who is born with an exceptional sense of smell, being able to distinguish a vast range of scents in the world around him. Grenouille becomes a perfumer but is drawn to murder when he encounters a young girl with an unsurpassed wondrous scent. Later, living in isolation in a mountain cave, he is shaken after some years to discover his own complete lack of scent; the discovery draws him back to society in search of scents that are capable of changing how he will be perceived by others, and eventually to learn the highest level of the art in the Grasse region of France. Once again he encounters a remarkable scent from a teenage girl, and this time engages in serial murder in order to practice the preserving of her scent with his perfumier's art. He is caught red-handed after this murder, but his sentence is not carried out, because he has by now developed a scent that causes people to fall in helpless awe and adoration of him. However this power does not bring him happiness and he realizes he is a misanthrope - someone who hates people, and he is left disillusioned. Finally he returns to Paris, where he is torn to pieces by a crowd who are so drawn to him due to his scent, that they became compelled to obtain and consume pieces of him.

With translations into 48 languages and over 20 million copies sold to date worldwide, 'Perfume' is one of the largest book sales among 20th Century German novels. The title remained in bestseller lists for about 9 years, and received almost unanimously positive national and international critical acclaim. The novel was translated into English by John E. Woods and won the PEN Translation Prize in 1987.

Some editions of Perfume, including the first, have as their cover image Antoine Watteau's painting Jupiter and Antiope, which depicts a sleeping woman.

The novel is widely seen as an allegory for Hitler and his dramatic rise for power.

Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give a pleasant smell.

Perfume may also refer to:

Perfume were a British indie group from Leicester, active between 1993 and 1997.

When Blab Happy split up, singer/guitarist Mick McCarthy and bassist Tony Owen recruited John "Johnny Wadd" Waddington to form Perfume, initially releasing records on their own "Aromasound" label. Their first release was "Yoga" in December 1993. Second single "Young" (which was perfume-scented) appeared in April 1994. Third single "Lover" was picked up on by BBC Radio One DJ's Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley (the latter getting the band in to record a session for her show).

They toured with Gene, the band's early profile rising a result and they drew a crowd of over 5,000 at the second stage at the Phoenix Festival, quite a statement for a band on their own DIY label self releasing scented limited edition vinyl. They co-headlined with the likes of Travis and toured heavily as a headline act selling out many renowned venues in the UK and were invited to play abroad at prestigious events such as The Black Sessions in Paris. The recruitment of bass player Karl Traae of Leicester's HBM and recently returned from a stint in the US with San Diego's Whirl lead to a minor (UK Top 75) hit in January 1996 with the single "Haven't Seen You" which was on heavy rotation on daytime radio. That year's success saw them sign to Big Star Records, and to Paul Weller's publishers Notting Hill, who reissued "Lover" to be followed by the debut album One in 1997. Perfume performed on the NME stage at the Glastonbury Festival in 1997. The band split later that year with a posthumous "best of" compilation Yesterday Rising released in 1998. Perfume were Paul Weller's special guests at his Lazy Sunday Afternoon in Finsbury Park. Jo Whiley joined the band on stage at BBC Camden Live Festival to add handclaps to Lover, a song she described as "The sweetest song in all the world." Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley included the interview with Perfume when the band surprised Jo for her birthday as one of their highlights in the 20 Years of The Evening Session programs in 2014. Perfume prompted more fanmail than any other band according to Steve Lamacq. The coverage on the Evening Session over a number of years helped the band to secure a string of Top Ten Indie Hits, and are featured on the Top 20 Indie Compilation Albums.

Lover was featured on the 2010 Common People Indie Compilation and was described by Luke Lewis of the NME as a "lost gem." On NME.com he wrote an article called Rescue A Lost Classic about the song. "There is one track on the album that stopped me dead in my tracks. It's by Perfume and it's called 'Lover'. It's magnificent - an ecstatic, vernal bloom of falsetto and violins that gave me one of those powerful surges of nostalgia that critics always insist on calling a "Proustian rush."

is a Japanese pop girl band from Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, consisting of Ayano Ōmoto ("Nocchi"), Yuka Kashino ("Kashiyuka") and Ayaka Nishiwaki ("A~chan"). The group has been signed with Amuse, Inc. since 2003 and with Universal Music Group since 2012.

The group was formed in early 2000 inside young talent academy Actors School Hiroshima, and debuted with their first Hiroshima-local single " Omajinai Perori" released on March 21, 2002. A year later they moved to Tokyo, started to work with Capsule's producer Yasutaka Nakata and released their first nationwide indie single, " Sweet Donuts" on August 6, 2003. In 2005 they got a major contract deal with Tokuma Japan Communications, and released their major debut single " Linear Motor Girl" on September 21. However, it was not until 2008 where the group's seventh single " Polyrhythm", which was chosen to be the theme song of a recycle campaign by NHK, that they started to receive major attention in Japan. The single peaked at number seven on the Oricon charts, becoming their first Top 10 single in Japan, and since then, all of their subsequent works starting with their eighth single " Baby Cruising Love" have debuted within the Top 3 of the charts. Their first original studio album, Game, released on April 16, 2008, became their first number one album in Japan, and " Love the World", released on July 9, 2008, their first number one single. With roughly combined sales of both singles and albums, the group has sold over 3 million records, with 1.5 million albums sold in Japan alone as of March 2012.

The group was formed with an original post- Shibuya-kei sound as it was popular during the years until their transition toward contemporary electronic dance music that incorporated elements of synthpop, bubblegum pop, dance-pop and house music. The group is also known for their processed vocals, heavy use of autotune and vocoders. Over the years, Perfume has been one of the most successful acts in Asian music. The group's musical structure has been identified as " technopop". In 2012 the group announced that they had signed a global contract with Universal Music Group, and that they expected to expand their horizons and "go global". Their sixteenth major label single " Spending All My Time", released on August 15, 2012, was seen as a dedication to fans overseas. Their fourth studio album Level3 was released on October 2, 2013, and was soon followed by " Sweet Refrain" a month after, serving as the lead single for their fifth studio album Cosmic Explorer, which was released on April 6, 2016.

Perfume is a 2001 film about the fashion industry in New York City.

"Perfume" is the second single by British girl group Parade. It was released on 17 June 2011 as a digital download in the United Kingdom. On 26 June 2011, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at No.38 before falling out of the Top 100 altogether.

"Perfume" is a song recorded by American singer Britney Spears for her eighth studio album, Britney Jean (2013). It was written by Spears, Sia Furler and Christopher Braide, while the song was produced by will.i.am and co-produced by Keith Harris and Braide. The song was released as the second and final single from the album on November 4, 2013 by RCA Records. "Perfume" is a synthpop, power ballad, which is influenced by music of the 1980s. Lyrically, the song is built around themes of jealousy and suspicion in a relationship. Spears revealed that the song was about her split with her ex-fiancé, Jason Trawick, in early 2013.

A musical departure from its EDM-influenced predecessor, " Work Bitch", music critics noted her "surprisingly strong" vocals, and compared them to those of Gwen Stefani. Worldwide, the song performed weakly in official charts, peaking at number 76 in the United States and within the top 70 in Australia, Canada and Ireland. The music video for "Perfume" was directed by Joseph Kahn and released in December 2013. Spears' love interest in the video leaves her for another woman, while Spears is left devastated. Kahn mentioned that there is an unreleased director's cut version of the video, where Spears role in the video is actually an assassin hired to kill her boyfriend. Spears included the song on her current residency concert Britney: Piece of Me (2013–15). The song has sold over 300,000 copies in the United States.