Taxonomy of meanings for 臭:　　

Additional information about 臭

說文解字: 【臭】，禽走臭而知其迹者，犬也。从犬、从自。 〔小徐本「从犬」上有「故」。〕 【臣鉉等曰：自，古鼻字。犬走以鼻知臭，故从自。】 【尺救切】

Criteria
• ODOUR
  

  1. The general word for an odour, either pleasant or unpleasant, is chòu 臭.

• FLAVOUR
  

  1. The current noun for taste is wèi 味. (The current verb for tasting something is cháng 嘗. See also TASTE).

  2. Chòu 臭 is the flavour of something as primarily perceived through the nose. For this see SMELL

• FRAGRANT
  

  1. Xiāng 香 (ant. chòu 臭 "stinking") is orginally the scent of grain, and the meaning of the word was generalised to refer to any pleasant smell, especially also that of foodstuffs. NB: chòu 臭 is often neutral in classical Chinese and can refer to pleasant as well as unpleasant smells. However, there are cases where the word clearly describes something as evil-smelling and not only refers to what actually happens to be an evil smell.

  2. The general poetic term for fragrance of flowers or grasses is fāng 芳 (ant. chòu 臭 "stinking"), and the word never refers to the fragrance of any artefact.

  3. Xūn 薰 refers to an almost pungent strong fragrance.

  4. Fēn 芬 is a rare rather colourless term for attractive smell.

  5. Xīng 馨 refers to a striking fragrance speading far and wide.

• SMELL
  

  1. Xiù 臭／嗅 "try to smell" relates to wén 聞 "perceive the smell of" exactly like shì 視 "look at" to jiàn 見 "see".

  NB: Compare 嘗 "try to taste". See TASTE.

• SAVOURY
  

  1. The standard words for something tasting good are the archaic zhǐ 旨 and the current měi 美 (ant.** sè 澀 "not pleasant to the palate").

  2. Gān 甘 refers primarily to sweetness but is often used for general tastiness of food.

  3. Xiāng 香 (ant. chòu 臭 "stinking and of bad taste") refers primarily to things that smell good, but the word is often used for general tastiness of food.

  4. Hòu 厚 refers the rich good taste of food.

  5. Nèn 嫩 refers to food in which unpleasant hardness has been removed during the boiling so that the food is soft and tasty.

• STINK
  

  1. The current general and abstract word for odours of all kinds, pleasant or unpleasant, is chòu 臭.

  2. Xiāng 香 (ant. chòu 臭 "stench") often refers to pleasant odours and fragrance, but the word can also refer to a stench, unlike fāng 芳.

  3. Xīng 腥, sāo 臊, and xīng sāo 腥臊 refers specifically to the stench of rotten pork or generally of rotten meat.

  4. Shān 羶 / 膻 refers to the notorious pungent stench of goats.

  5. Chòu 殠 is very rare word referring to an unpleasant smell.

  See FRAGRANT

Word relations
• Ant: (STINK)香/FRAGRANT Xiāng 香 (ant. chòu 臭 "stinking") is orginally the scent of grain, and the meaning of the word was generalised to refer to any pleasant smell, especially also that of foodstuffs. NB: chòu 臭 is often neutral in classical Chinese and can refer to pleasant as well as unpleasant smells. However, there are cases where the word clearly describes something as evil-smelling and not only refers to what actually happens to be an evil smell.
• Object: (ODOUR)聞/SMELL2 Attributions
• Contrast: (ODOUR)味/FLAVOUR The current noun for taste is wèi 味. (The current verb for tasting something is cháng 嘗. See also TASTE). 1 Attribution
• Assoc: (STINK)腐/ROTTEN The current general word for rottenness is fǔ 腐(ant. xiān 鮮 "still fresh").