cologne

cologne — noun

1. A light liquid with a mild pleasant smell that people put on their skin or cloth

1.nounB1
Definition

A light liquid with a mild pleasant smell that people put on their skin or clothes, not as strong as perfume.

Example

Ravi sprayed some cologne on his neck before heading to his sister's wedding ceremony.

collocation: a bottle of cologne

Yara put on cologne before the party, and the smell filled the room when she entered.

Common collocations
  • wear cologne
  • spray cologne
  • apply cologne
  • a bottle of cologne
  • men's cologne
  • smell of cologne
  • a dab of cologne
  • citrus cologne
Synonyms
  • perfume

    stronger and more concentrated than cologne; the general term for any fragrant liquid worn on the body

  • fragrance

    a broader, more formal term that covers perfumes, colognes, and other scented products

  • eau de toilette

    a medium-strength scented product, between cologne and perfume in concentration

  • scent

    an informal, general word for any pleasant smell, including but not limited to cologne

Usage Note

Unlike perfume, which is almost always uncountable, cologne is commonly used as both an uncountable noun ('some cologne') and a countable noun ('several new colognes') when referring to different types or brands.

Common Mistakes

Cologne and perfume are the same thing.
Cologne is a lighter type of perfume with a weaker smell.
cologne contains fewer fragrant oils, so its scent is less strong than traditional perfume.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Cologne, perfume, and eau de toilette differ mainly in oil concentration. Perfume has the highest concentration of fragrant oils (15–40%), making its smell last the longest. Cologne sits at the other end, with only 2–5% oil, producing a much lighter, shorter-lasting scent. Eau de toilette falls in between at 5–15%. Fragrance is the broadest term — it covers any scented product worn on the body, including cologne, perfume, and even aftershave. Scent is the most informal and can refer to any pleasant smell, from a candle to a flower to a person's cologne. In everyday shopping, a man might say "I need a new cologne" while a woman would more often say "I need a new perfume," though these marketing labels are not strict rules.

perfume ↗fragrance ↗scent ↗eau de toilette

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • bottle of cologne
  • smell of cologne
  • dab of cologne
  • splash of cologne

Etymology

FrenchGermanEnglish

Cologne is a shortened form of eau de Cologne, a French phrase meaning 'water from Cologne.' The name comes from the German city of Cologne (Köln), where an Italian perfumer first created this light, citrus-based fragrance in the early 1700s. Over time, the shortened form cologne came to be used for any light perfume with a low concentration of oils.