Talk:History of perfume

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The Latin origins of the word 'perfume'
The articles makes a very common, but misleading claim, and I wonder if it might be worth correcting it here.

The claim is: "The word perfume is used today to describe scented mixtures and is derived from the Latin word, "per fumus," meaning through smoke."

A few things about this:

First, per fumus is two words, not one.

Second, per- when used as a prefix to a verb does not mean "through"; rather, it is an intensifier that means something more along the lines of "to do X thoroughly", where X is the verb, in this case fumāre. This is already noted in the wiktionary article (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/parfum#Etymology_3).

Third, it is not clear that the etymology is Latin. The terms perfume, parfum, profumo, etc., probably derive from a verb like profumare, definitely not from an adverbial phrase like per fumus ("through or by means of smoke"). Whatever the verb was, it probably meant something similar to the verb to incense. However, I can't find a single classical or late Latin example of the verb perfumare. I also can't find a source that gives one. There could be a Medieval Latin verb or one in a later dialect, but I haven't come across any attestations. Does anyone know if there is a proper history here? Does Susan Stewart mention this in her new book?

I think a solution to this issue could be helpful for people who come to this page. I would be very interested to hear what more experienced editors think and what they think would be the best way to make any changes.

Just to note: I am not an experienced editor, but I am a classicist and historian of science and medicine.

Ancientmedicine (talk) 16:56, 2 February 2023 (UTC)