Reek Once Meant Smoke, and Still Does in Scotland
To reek is to smell strongly and unpleasantly. The word originally meant to give off smoke.
To reek is to smell strongly and unpleasantly. Old English *rec* meant smoke, and that sense survives in Scots, where Edinburgh's nickname *Auld Reekie* means Old Smoky, from the coal haze over the city — not Old Smelly. German *Rauch* and Dutch *rook* still mean smoke. The shift to bad smell happened in English from about the 1700s, and the figurative sense followed: a plan can reek of desperation.
- To smell strongly. *Reeking of smoke.*
- Smoke (archaic and Scots). *Auld Reekie.*
- A strong smell. *The reek of fish.*
- To suggest strongly. *It reeks of panic.*
- Old English — *rec*, smoke. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | reek | Reeking. |
| Noun | reek | A reek. |
| Past | reeked | Reeked. |
| German | Rauch | Smoke. |
| Dutch | rook | Smoke. |
- The room reeked of smoke.Smell.
- Auld Reekie means Old Smoky.Scots.
- It reeks of desperation.Figurative.
Smoke words across Germanic
- English reek — now a smell, once smoke
- Scots reek — still smoke
- German Rauch — smoke
- Dutch rook — smoke, as in *rookworst*, smoked sausage
- English smoke is a separate Germanic word
Old English *rec*, smoke, of Germanic origin, related to German *Rauch*.
Why is Edinburgh called Auld Reekie?
Because reek means smoke in Scots, and the city sat under a haze of coal smoke. It is not a comment on the smell.
When did reek come to mean a bad smell?
In English from about the 1700s. Scots and the related Germanic languages kept the smoke sense.