Zibeth
Definition
Example
"In old times, zibeth was used in expensive perfumes."
"The smell of zibeth came from a special oil made by the civet cat."
"Today, people use flower oils instead of zibeth to make perfumes."
Explanation
Zibeth is an old word for a kind of strong-smelling perfume made from a substance found in the civet cat, a small animal from Asia and Africa. It can also mean the civet cat itself. The zibeth cat itself does not smell nice; it produces a thick, strong-smelled liquid from a gland near its tail. The natural smell is very strong and not pleasant in its raw form, but when it is cleaned and mixed with other materials, it can make perfumes last longer and smell nice. In old times, a cleaned form of its scent was used to make perfumes smell better and last longer. Today, people mostly use plant-based perfumes, not zibeth, because it was taken from animals.