Printed from smellbook.com/smells/thyme. This printout keeps the entry for Thyme itself: its description, reference card, Connections, questions, evidence, related smells, record details, states, names and citation. It leaves out your own notes, the map, the lists of paths, routes, stories and fragrance directions, and the lists headed “Also linked to” (other entries that share its place or material) and “Linked from”; they are on the page online. The entries this one links to are still printed under Connections and Related smells.
Categories and types group entries for browsing; they are editorial, not evidence. How smells are grouped.
A compact herbal smell with green, dry, warm and savory character.
Its type, Source, means the smell is named after “a physical origin that can contribute a smell”; it is not an evidence source, such as a study or a book. The origin page for Thyme (the plant, not this smell entry) lists every smell recorded as coming from it.
Thyme smells compact, green and herbal, with a dry, warm and slightly peppery edge. EDITORIAL
Named in the VERIFIED claims about this smell: not a list of what it is made of, and not its cause.
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Links SmellBook records for this entry: what it comes from, where you meet it, molecules and related smells. EDITORIAL links are chosen by SmellBook editors and VERIFIED links come from VERIFIED claims. Nothing here is a ranking, and a molecule is not presented as the cause of the smell.
QUESTIONS ABOUT THYME
Thyme smells compact, green and herbal, with a dry, warm and slightly peppery edge. Fresh sprigs give a bright, sharp scent when crushed, while dried thyme is earthier and more concentrated. In cooking, it turns savoury and rounded, blending into stocks and roasts, and it is close to oregano or a general mixed-herb note.
It is met in herb gardens, kitchens and markets, in roasted vegetables, meats and stews, and in soups simmering on the stove. Walkers also meet it on dry, sunny hillsides where low herbs grow underfoot.
Typical settings: herb garden, kitchen, roasted food.
SmellBook links it to 3 place pages: see them in Connections.
2 VERIFIED scientific claims from 2 published sources are recorded for this entry: Thymol in thyme essential oil and Key aroma compounds of thyme leaves. Each claim says only what its source supports, in the scope shown with it.
5 molecules are named in these claims; see the evidence for the role each claim gives them. Each molecule these claims name has only the role its claim states; one molecule is not the whole smell.
Thyme is a culinary herb profile whose smell changes between fresh and dried forms.
Words that are easy to mix up: How do green and herbal differ?
No historical source or heritage record is linked to this entry yet.
Answers marked EDITORIAL are written by SmellBook editors to describe the experience and add no scientific fact. Answers marked VERIFIED point to claims on published sources, checked against each source's own summary where one was available (each claim's page says how); what each claim supports is in its own text and scope.
Scientific evidence · 2 claims
How it is described or perceived
Key aroma compounds of thyme leaves
A study of volatile oil extracts of thyme (Thymus vulgaris) leaves and fennel seeds identified thymol and carvacrol, described with oregano, thyme and spicy notes, as key compounds contributing to the aroma of thyme leaves.
Laboratory extracts of thyme leaves made by two extraction methods, which gave clearly different compositions; the abstract states the olfactometry method only for fennel, and for thyme it gives the odour notes of these two compounds without naming other odorants.
Also covers: chemistry reported (the claim names compounds or kinds of compounds).
How this was found: Odour analysis with human assessors. People smelled the separated compounds or the material itself (for example gas chromatography–olfactometry, dilution analysis, recombination or a sensory panel). Source: primary study; sensory or perception work. Studied: volatile oil extracts of thyme leaves.
M. Consuelo Díaz-Maroto et al.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
DOI 10.1021/jf050340+Chemistry reported
A commercial thyme essential oil contained thymol as its main component, followed by p-cymene, 1,8-cineole, γ-terpinene and carvacrol.
One commercial oil of the thymol type; composition only, and thyme has several chemotypes.
How this was found: Chemical composition. Compounds were identified or measured, without any assessment of their odour. Source: primary study; chemistry work.
Lucia Galovičová, Petra Borotová, Veronika Valková, Nenad L. Vukovic, Milena Vukic, Jana Štefániková, Hana Ďúranová, Przemysław Łukasz Kowalczewski, Natália Čmiková & Miroslava Kačániová
DOI 10.3390/plants10091959Each molecule is named by the claim shown after it. Each molecule named here has only the role its claim states; one molecule is not the whole smell. About molecules in SmellBook
Links chosen by SmellBook editors, not a ranking.
Associations can vary strongly by person, place and culture.
PATHS FROM HERE
Each step is a relationship SmellBook editors recorded in the knowledge graph, named as it is published there. Paths are not ranked or personalised, and they do not mean the smells smell alike.
Each step is a molecule that a VERIFIED claim names for both smells, in whatever role the claims state. Sharing a molecule does not mean two smells smell alike.
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WHERE THIS SMELL APPEARS
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FOR RESEARCHERS AND EDITORS
Identity, revision history, corrections and how to cite Thyme.
CULTURAL: This entry's associations depend on context, language, memory or culture; its description and smell words are editorial. It says nothing about research or historical evidence; evidence for this entry is shown separately: VERIFIED.
How this entry is identified and named, for citing it or matching it with other records.
SmellBook SB-0131 — Thymesmellbook:smell:thymehttps://smellbook.com/smells/thymeSmellBook. (2026). Thyme (revision 4, 2026-10-14). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:thyme. https://smellbook.com/smells/thyme@misc{smellbook_thyme_r4,
author = {{SmellBook}},
title = {Thyme},
year = {2026},
note = {SmellBook Public Atlas, revision 4, 2026-10-14, smellbook:smell:thyme},
url = {https://smellbook.com/smells/thyme}
}TY - ENCYC ID - smellbook-thyme-r4 TI - Thyme AU - SmellBook T2 - SmellBook Public Atlas PY - 2026 DA - 2026/10/14 ET - revision 4 UR - https://smellbook.com/smells/thyme N1 - SB-0131; smellbook:smell:thyme; resolver https://smellbook.com/id/smell/thyme ER -
The citation names revision 4 of 2026-10-14, so a reader can tell exactly which version was cited. Citing records what was read; it does not grant a licence.
Thyme is a culinary herb profile whose smell changes between fresh and dried forms.
Other entries whose editors linked to Thyme:
Added VERIFIED evidence through source intake.
Created 2026-09-22 · Updated 2026-10-14Dataset history In the SmellBook dataset since the first of three dataset releases of 2026-09-30.
No correction notices published for this entry. Corrections policyEVIDENCE MATTERS
SmellBook separates cultural association, community perception, verified evidence, prediction and experimental relationships rather than presenting them as the same thing. Read the evidence guide ↗ See the evidence coverage report ↗