A pleasant smell; the scent, odor, or odoriferous particles emitted from a sweet-smelling substance; a pleasant odor
"The fresh jasmine filling the garden was so like perfume that I had to close my eyes just to savor it."
In plain English: Perfume is a liquid with a strong, pleasant smell that people spray on their skin to make them feel good.
"She sprayed some perfume on her wrists before going out."
Usage: Use perfume to refer specifically to a liquid fragrance applied to the body or clothing, rather than describing any general pleasant smell. While it can loosely denote a fine aroma in literary contexts, everyday usage reserves the term for actual scented products like cologne or eau de toilette.
To apply perfume to; to fill or impregnate with a perfume; to scent.
"She carefully perfumed her linen closet with drops of lavender oil to keep the clothes smelling fresh all year round."
In plain English: To perfume something means to add a pleasant scent to it.
"She decided to perfume her linen curtains before hanging them up."
Usage: Use "perfume" as a verb when you want to describe the act of applying scented liquid to oneself or adding fragrance to an object or room. While it can be used literally for sprays and lotions, it often implies a more subtle or artistic application than simply "smelling good."
The word perfume entered English as a doublet borrowed directly from the Middle French forms parfum and perfum. It retains its original meaning related to scent without any significant shift in definition over time.