attar

noun

AT-ur/ˈæt.ɚ/UKAT-uh/ˈæt.ə/

Pluralattars (some meanings)

2 meanings of attar

1
noununcountable
An essential oil extracted from the petals and blossoms of flowers.
The workshop produces attar by distilling freshly picked rose petals at dawn.
Because the yield is so small, pure floral attar commands a remarkable price.
Similaressence
Note
A word that reached English already carrying its fragrance: Persian 'ater, "scent", from Arabic ʕiṭr, "perfume". George William Septimus Piesse's The Art of Perfumery (1857) spells it otto, a form worth recognizing in older writing. Its sense of hard-won concentration also makes it a natural figure for distilled essence. In Xavier Herbert's Capricornia (1938), a character calls his literary work "the attar-drops" of his life.
2
nouncountable or uncountable
A perfume made from the essential oil extracted from flowers.
She dabbed a little attar on her wrists before the wedding ceremony.
The merchant let customers sample each attar from a row of tiny glass vials.
Similarperfume, scent

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Origin

Borrowed from Persian ʿater ("scent"), which itself came from Arabic ʿiṭr ("perfume").