CentralNotice From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation , search "Scent of rain" redirects here. For the play, see Scent of Rain . For other uses, see Scent of Rain (disambiguation) . "Smell of rain" redirects here. For the album, see The Smell of Rain . Rainfall Petrichor ( / ˈ p ɛ t r ɨ k ɔər / ) is the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil . The word is constructed from Greek , petra , meaning ‘stone’, + ichor , the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology. The term was coined in 1964 by two researchers, Isabel Joy Bear ( Australian ) and Roderick G. Thomas ( British ), for an article in the journal Nature . [ 1 ] [ 2 ] In the article, the authors describe how the smell derives from an oil exuded by certain plants during dry periods, whereupon it is absorbed by clay -based soils and rocks . During rain, the oil ...