olfactory organ

1 5.3

The body part that senses smells, for example the nose in humans

noun
/ɒlˈfæktəri ˈɔrɡən/

Specialized

: órgano olfativo

Examples

Well, that would be because your olfactory organ's--

Love in the Time of Cholera (2007)
As the Prime Mover jetted toward it, the long-limbed biped held its external olfactory organ closed with two fingers.

Fiction book (2000)
The olfactory organ in humans allows us to detect various scents, making smell an essential part of our experience.
Many animals have a highly developed olfactory organ that helps them locate food and identify predators.
The olfactory organ, which is primarily the nose, plays a crucial role in how we perceive flavors when eating.

Synonyms

nose

vsolfactory organ

∞ 1.0

The part of the face used for breathing and smelling

is the specific anatomical organ responsible only for smell

sense organ

vsolfactory organ

1 3.5

An organ with nerves that detects light, sound, touch, taste or smell

is a single organ devoted to smell rather than all sensory types

Surface Forms

olfactory organ singular

olfactory organs plural

Morphology

olfactory + organ

The meaning 'the organ responsible for smell' is directly and compositionally derived from 'olfactory' (connected with smelling) + 'organ' (a body part performing a function). Although somewhat technical, this is a transparent, cross-linguistically common formation (e.g., Spanish 'órgano olfativo'), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Olfactory organ joins olfactory (about 'smell') and organ (a body part that does a job), so the words paint a clear picture. So it simply names the body part, usually the nose, that gives the 'sense of smell'.