Fragrance versus Aroma

[Tom]

Hi

After looking up the meanings and uses of these two words in my dictionaries, I would like to ask:

Can a perfume have an aroma?

Can some eatable have a fragrance?

Tom

[Alan]

Hi Tom,

You certainly find them! Let me tell you what I think and if they say something different in Tokyo, Alabama or Bristol, then forgive me.

Perfume is mainly associated with a scent such as you can smell from a rose or a manufactured scent in a bottle. Does the perfume have an aroma, you ask? I suppose so because as I understand it, it is the smell emanating from the perfume that wafts about in the air. Aromas are usually associated with smells that are in the air rather than, if you like, up your nose. Coffee when brewing has an aroma, bread when being baked has an aroma and so does a cigar when it is being smoked.

Something eatable does it have a fragrance, you ask? Fragrance is usually a pleasant scent or smell and if it comes from food, I would say it is usually if it is undergoing some process such as being cooked. Then again fragrance can come from food that is static.

Alan
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