How to Pronounce Vetiver

Vetiver is pronounced VET-i-ver — three syllables, with the stress on the first. The middle i is short, like the i in bit. The final r is lightly rolled or, in American English, dropped to almost nothing.

A few things people commonly get wrong:

• It's not vet-EYE-ver. The middle syllable is a short i, not a long one.
• It's not veh-tee-VAY. The French pronunciation does soften the final r, but the stress still sits on the first syllable.
• The older spelling vetivert — common on perfume bottles into the mid-20th century — is pronounced the same as vetiver. The final t is silent.

Where the word comes from

The English word vetiver comes from the French vétiver, which the French adopted from the Tamil vettiver (வெட்டிவேர்) — literally "the root that is cut," a reference to how the aromatic roots are harvested. So the original pronunciation is closest to VET-ti-ver, with a slightly harder t.

How perfumers say it

In the fragrance industry, you'll hear both VET-i-ver (most common in North America and the UK) and veh-tee-VAIR (a more French-leaning pronunciation favored by some niche perfumers). Neither is wrong. The plant itself is the same.

If you're still not sure

Search "vetiver pronunciation" on YouTube — there are plenty of audio clips, and the variations between speakers will give you a better sense of the natural range than any phonetic spelling can.

And if you want to know what it actually smells like, we wrote that up too.