attar of roses
- noun
- /ˈætər əv ˈroʊzɪz/
:
aceite de rosas
- The air was filled with the sweet scent of attar of roses as she entered the garden.
Examples
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Scents of mustard gas mingle with those of myrrh and attar of roses.
Fiction book (1992) -
No, he said, he wanted to put them in a bowl on his mantelpiece and sprinkle them with attar of roses.
Fiction book (2002) -
Attar of roses.
-
It was like a mixture of spicy incense and sweet attar of roses.
Fiction book (1996) -
Then there's the choosing of scents and lotions - attar of rose, carnation, crushed lily... and musk.
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Every morning, Elijah would come to the store, sprinkle attar of roses in a gleaming copper bowl, and prepare piasters, pennies, and shillings to make change.
Fiction book (1994) -
He decided to buy a bottle of attar of roses for his wife's birthday to use in her homemade perfumes.
-
At the market, she found a vendor selling attar of roses, renowned for its quality in crafting exquisite fragrances.
Synonyms
1
3.7
A strong scented oil made from rose petals used in perfume and skin care
1
9.9
A natural perfume oil made from flowers, especially rose petals
A scented oil made from flowers, especially roses
A strong-smelling oil from flowers, especially roses
How Fragrant
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a fragrant oil obtained from roses' is directly derivable from combining 'attar' (a perfume or distilled flower essence) with 'of roses' indicating the source flower; a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer it refers to perfume made from roses. The genitive 'of' construction and the concept of flower-based oils are cross-linguistically common, supporting full transparency.
Etymology
Attar of roses comes from old perfume making: many roses were gently heated so tiny drops of oil—the attar—were collected. Because this oil keeps the strong rose smell in just a small drop, the phrase came to mean 'a fragrant oil used in perfumes and cosmetics'.