english word · 2026-05-30

vellichor

noun

Meaning

The strange wistfulness of used bookstores; the feeling of being in a place filled with thousands of old books that have their own history and lives.

A modern coinage combining the Latin 'vellum' (parchment) and the Greek 'ichor' (the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods).

"Stepping into the basement library, she felt a wave of vellichor at the sight of the dust-moted shelves and yellowing pages."

"The shop was thick with the scent of vellichor, as if every volume were whispering its previous owner's secrets."

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