eau de cologne
1
5.3
- noun
- /oʊ də kəˈloʊn/
:
agua de colonia
- Then she rubbed just a small amount of eau de cologne across her wrists and throat, just a whiff reminder that she was feminine, soft, and desirable.
Examples
-
He had eau de cologne.
Fiction book (1995) -
Then eau de cologne.
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Don't forget the Eau de Cologne.
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- Well, it aint becoming in a young lady to use anything but eau de cologne.
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I occasionally use a strong eau de cologne after shaving.
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After applying a few drops of eau de cologne, he felt fresh and invigorated for the day ahead.
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She chose a light eau de cologne for the summer, hoping its floral notes would lift her spirits.
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Each morning, he spritzed his favorite eau de cologne to start his day on a positive note.
Synonyms
124
1.0
A liquid with a pleasant smell used to make a person smell nice
46
3.7
A light-smelling liquid you put on your skin
1
7.2
A light perfume with a milder scent than regular perfume
1
6.6
A strong, long-lasting scented liquid you put on the body
A light scented liquid people put on their skin to smell nice
How Scented
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally composes as 'eau' (water) + 'de' (of) + 'cologne' (Cologne / cologne), i.e. 'water of Cologne', which directly describes a lightly scented liquid. Because the meaning is a straightforward, compositional loan from French and matches the literal constituents, a B1 learner who knows the parts can infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Eau de cologne comes from the French words eau and cologne, meaning 'water' and the city of Cologne. It was the name for a light perfume first made there, and because eau showed the scent was weaker than strong perfumes, today eau de cologne means a lightly scented liquid you can splash on your skin.