What is the origin of 'sleep tight'?
Read moreOne of the mysteries of the English language finally explained.
An organ capable of emitting a penetrating or noxious odour; specifically an eversible gland on the first thoracic segment of certain papilionid caterpillars.
Early 19th century; earliest use found in William Kirby (1759–1850), entomologist and naturalist. From ancient Greek ὀσμᾶσθαι to smell (from ὀσμή smell: see osmo-) + -τήριον, suffix forming nouns.