smaka

Traditionally considered borrowed from Middle Low German smak (“taste; smell”) or Saterland Frisian smaka or Middle Dutch smake, which is supported by its use in 17th-century texts to mean not only “smell,” but also “taste.” This may however have been a purely written usage, given the absence at the time of a term for “taste;” other writings of the period suggest that the “taste” meaning was rare or unattested among speakers. If this is so, the word might actually not be a borrowing, but an indigenous formation, from the stem of the verb smakt (“to stifle; to choke; to gasp”) (q.v.), made into a 4th-declension feminine noun. Since ancient Baltic and Iranian tribes were neighbors for some time, there may also be influence from Iranian languages (cf. Ossetian смаг (smag, “odor”). Originally, smaka had a broader meaning, “smell, odor” (in general); in the 19th century, the phrase laba smaka “good odor” still occurred. Later on it switched senses with smarža (which used to mean “bad smell” but is now neutral; q.v.).