Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Perfume |
PerfumeNoun1. A toiletry that emits and diffuses a fragrant odor. 2. A distinctive odor that is pleasant. Verb1. Fill or impregnate with an odor. 2. Apply perfume to; "She perfumes herself every day". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "perfume" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Chemical Industry | Mixture of essential oils, floral concretes, absolutes etc. dissolved in highly concentrated alcohol. Source: European Union. (references) |
Botanical | An aromatic substance, pleasing or attractive to ones associates. Abelmoschus, Acacia, Cyperus, Myroxylon, Petiveria, P:rotium, Renealmia, Sicana, Tetragastris, Warszewiczia. (references) |
Dream Interpretation | To dream of inhaling perfume, is an augury of happy incidents. For you to perfume your garments and person, denotes that you will seek and obtain adulation. Being oppressed by it to intoxication, denotes that excesses in joy will impair your mental qualities. To spill perfume, denotes that you will lose something which affords you pleasure. To break a bottle of perfume, foretells that your most cherished wishes and desires will end disastrously, even while they promise a happy culmination. To dream that you are distilling perfume, denotes that your employments and associations will be of the pleasantest character. For a young woman to dream of perfuming her bath, foretells ecstatic happenings. If she receives it as a gift from a man, she will experience fascinating, but dangerous pleasures. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... |
Food & Agriculture | Term applied to a well developed and pleasing aroma. Source: European Union. (references) |
Literature | Perfume (2 syl.) means simply "from smoke" (Latin, per fumum), the first perfumes having been obtained by the combustion of aromatic woods and gums. Their original use was in sacrifices, to counteract the offensive odours of the burning flesh. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils, a fixative, and alcohol used to give various objects (usually parts of the human body) a long-lasting and pleasant smell.
Perfume shelves
Larger version
The essential oils are obtained by distillation of flowers, plants, and grasses, such as orange blossom, jasmine, and roses. Aromatic chemicals are also used. Fixatives, which bind the various fragrances together, include balsams, ambergris, and secretions from the scent glands of civets and musk deer (undiluted these have unpleasant smells but in alcoholic solution they act as preserving agents). The amount of alcohol added depends on whether perfumes, toilet waters, or Eaux de Cologne are required. The mixture is normally aged for one year. On application, body heat causes the alcohol to evaporate quickly, leaving the fragrant substances on the skin to evaporate gradually over several hours.
The art of making perfume began in ancient Egypt, was developed by the Romans and the Arabs, and came to Europe in the Renaissance period. By the 14th century flowers were being grown for perfume in France, which remains the centre of the European perfume design and trade.
In some cases, an excessive use of perfumes may cause allergic reactions of the skin.
see also allergen, acetophenone Perfume is also a book by Patrick Süsskind. See Perfume (book)
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Perfume."
Synonyms: PerfumeSynonyms: aroma (n), essence (n), fragrance (n), aromatize (v), scent (v). (additional references) |
| Synonyms by domain: perfuming (european union, chemical industry). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I walked the streets, savoring that long lost perfume. (Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles; writing credit: Anne Rice) Interesting perfume. (Hot Shots!; writing credit: Jim Abrahams; Pat Proft) Their flesh is too much like the flesh of men, and their perfume has the rotten sweetness of corruption (The Big Sleep; writing credit: William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, and Jules Furthman. Based on the novel by Raymond Chandler.) And don't wear that perfume in court, it wrecks my concentration (A Few Good Men; writing credit: Aaron Sorkin) Oh, he uh--he exports perfume and imports bananas (Love in the Afternoon; writing credit: Claude Anet; I.A.L. Diamond) | |
Lyrics | But i want you addicted to my perfume, ehh (Sexual (Li Da Di); performing artist: Amber) Now the half-time air was sweet perfume ("American Pie"; performing artist: Don McLean) Emerald eyes and china perfume (Count on Me; performing artist: JEFFERSON STARSHIP) Far more frequently your wearing perfume (Lately; performing artist: Jodeci) A smell of wine and cheap perfume (DON'T STOP BELIEVIN'; performing artist: Journey) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Punches and Perfume (1926) Faint Perfume (1925) Nadie te oye Perfume de violetas (2001) Perfume (2001) Dark Blue Perfume (1997) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
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Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | Product photographs. Perfume bottle and powder puff canister I. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "Perfume" by Emma Payne Commentary: "Perfume." | "Perfume bottles" by Vi Xs Commentary: "Perfume bottles." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Dhammapada | Just as a flower which seems beautiful and has color but no perfume, so are the fruitless words of the man who speaks them but does them not. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | Cosette was to him a perfume, and not a woman |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Avoid perfume, cologne, or aftershave lotion that contains alcohol. (references) | |
Try to avoid odors that bother you, such as cooking smells, smoke, or perfume. (references) | ||
Try to stay away from strong odors and sprays, such as perfume, talcum powder, hair spray, and paints. (references) | ||
Business | The leading exporter of perfume to Russia is France (54 percent). (references) | |
The most popular perfume brands are new brands produced by major world manufacturers. (references) | ||
Even if a consumer is in the low-income range, he/she will always look for high-end perfume. (references) | ||
Economic History | Comoros | Comoros is the world's leading producer of essence of ylang-ylang, used in manufacturing perfume. (references) |
Comoros | Services including tourism, construction, and commercial activities constitute the remainder of the GDP. Plantations engage a large proportion of the population in producing the islands' major cash crops for export: vanilla, cloves, perfume essences, and copra. (references) | |
Comoros | Trade: Exports (1999 est.)--$7.9 million: vanilla, cloves, perfume essences, copra. (references) | |
Political Economy | JAMAICA | Import licenses: Although Jamaica has made considerable headway in trade liberalization, some items still require an import license, including milk powder, plants and parts of plants for perfume or pharmaceutical purposes, gum-resins, vegetable saps and extracts, certain chemicals, motor vehicles, arms and ammunition, certain toys such as water pistols, and gaming machines. (references) |
Trade | Ukraine | Goods subject to import licensing include: agricultural chemicals, pharmaceutical products (except dental materials and sutures), veterinary medicines, cosmetics, hygiene products, matrix forms used in the manufacturing of audio production, and ozone-depleting chemical substances (including propellants for spray-paints and enamels, perfume, body lotions, etc., paint solvents, fire extinguishers and refills, oil sprays,air- conditioners and refrigerating equipment, and refrigerated vending machines). (references) |
Thailand | In addition to import duties handled by the Customs Department, certain import items are also subject to excise tax . These include gasoline and products thereof, automobiles (less than 10 seats), electrical appliances, beverages, perfume, yachts and vessels for entertainment, lead crystal and other crystals, carpets and woven fur items, motorcycles, batteries, marble and granite, liquor, tobacco, and playing cards . It is worth mentioning that an excise tax is also imposed on local products in the same categories as well as on certain entertainment service providers such as horse racing grounds/clubs and golf clubs. (references) | |
Travel | Korea | Both residents and non-residents are limited to one carton of cigarettes, 100 cigars and one liter of alcoholic beverage or two ounces of perfume for duty-free import. (references) |
Korea | In clearing customs, gifts with a value of up to $400 (which can include liquor up to one liter (33.8 fl. oz.), two ounces of perfume and 200 cigarettes) may be brought in duty-free by non-residents. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Perfume" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 95.09% of the time. "Perfume" is used about 468 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 95.09% | 445 | 13,012 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 3.42% | 16 | 87,710 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 1.5% | 7 | 133,076 |
| Total | 100.00% | 468 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes names derived from the word "perfume". | |||
| Name | Gender | Language | Meaning |
| Thyatira | N/A | Biblical | A perfume |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references.
| |||
Expressions using "perfume": flowery perfume ♦ perfume and cosmetics ♦ perfume atomizer ♦ perfume brazier ♦ perfume burner ♦ perfume oneself ♦ perfume pan ♦ perfume shop ♦ use perfume. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "perfume": perfume-free. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
perfume | 6,494 | fragrance perfume | 89 |
discount perfume | 965 | armani perfume | 88 |
perfume oil | 824 | the perfume spot | 84 |
french perfume | 441 | perfume outlet | 79 |
perfume bottle | 335 | calvin klein perfume | 78 |
wholesale perfume | 236 | pheromone perfume | 74 |
angel perfume | 195 | ralph lauren perfume | 73 |
man perfume | 175 | christian dior perfume | 72 |
hard to find perfume | 166 | woman perfume | 68 |
cheap perfume | 144 | eternity perfume | 65 |
womens perfume | 142 | perfume emporium | 63 |
child perfume | 136 | curve perfume | 61 |
chanel perfume | 132 | perfume sample | 60 |
perfume online | 129 | burberry perfume | 59 |
creed perfume | 126 | vera wang perfume | 59 |
free perfume sample | 113 | perfume cologne | 58 |
guess perfume | 106 | making perfume | 58 |
gucci perfume | 98 | tiffany perfume | 57 |
discontinued perfume | 96 | free perfume | 55 |
designer perfume | 89 | perfume sale | 54 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "perfume"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | parfuum. (various references) | |
Albanian | parfumoj (perfume oneself, scent), parfum (scent), kundërmim (odor, odour, redolence), aromë (aroma, balm, essence, Flavor, flavour, fragrance, fragrancy, incense, odor, odour, redolence, savor, savour, scent, waft). (various references) | |
Arabic | تعطر (scent), عطر (attar, balmy, eau de cologne, embalm, fragrant, odor, odorous, odour, redolence, redolent, scent), عبير (aroma, bouquet, fragrance), طيب (delicious, good, savory, scent, spice), شذا (aroma, fragrance, scent). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | напарфюмирам, аромат (aroma, fragrance, nose, odor, odour, relish, sapor, savor, savour, scent, smell), благоухание (aroma, balm, fragrance, odor, odour, redolence), приятна миризма, парфюмирам (put on scent, put scent on, scent, use perfume, use scent), парфюм (scent), изпълвам с благоухание (embalm, scent, sweeten). (various references) | |
Chinese | 香水 (cologne). (various references) | |
Czech | parfém (scent), voòavka, vùnì (Flavor, flavour, fragrance, odor, odour, scent, smell, wind), navonìt (deodorize, put scent), naparfémovat. (various references) | |
Danish | parfume (scent). (various references) | |
Dutch | parfumeren, parfum (fragrance, scent). (various references) | |
Esperanto | parfumo, parfumi. (various references) | |
Farsi | معطرکردن (Flavor), عطر (Ambrosia, Odor, Scent, Smell), بوی خوش . (various references) | |
Finnish | tuoksu (aroma, fragrance, good smell, odour, scent), hajuvesi (scent). (various references) | |
French | parfum, parfumer. (various references) | |
Frisian | rûkersguod. (various references) | |
German | Parfüm (perfumery, scent), Duft (allure, aroma, aura, flavour, fragrance, haze, incense, odor, odour, redolence, scent, smell, whiff), parfümieren (scent). (various references) | |
Greek | άρωμα (aroma, flavoring, flavouring, fragrance, masque, redolence, savor, savour, scent, spice, spiciness), ευωδιά (aroma, fragrance, fragrancy, redolence). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מרקח (spice), להתבסם, לבשם (aromatize, odorize), בושם, בוסם, בשם (balsam, fragrance, odor, odour, scent, spice), בסימה (aroma, flavour, fragrance), בסום (perfuming, scent), סממן (drug, flavour, savor, savour, spice), ניחוח (aroma, fragrance, scent). (various references) | |
Hungarian | parfüm (fragrance, fragrancy, odor, odour), illatszer (essence), illat (aroma, flavor, flavour, fragrance, fragrancy, gust, nose, odor, odour, savour, scent), szag (odor, odour, olfactory, say, scent, smell, spoor, whiff), kölni (eau de cologne, scent). (various references) | |
Icelandic | ilmvatn. (various references) | |
Indonesian | wangi-wangian, bau-bauan (odors). (various references) | |
Italian | profumo (odor, odors, odour, scent, smell, sweetness). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 芳香 (aroma, balm, fragrance), 香水. (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | パフューム , ほうこう (apprenticeship, aroma, balm, course, direction, emission of light, expulsion from school, fluctuation, fragrance, howl, muzzle, public duty, rambling, roaming, roar, seamstress, service, tailor, variation, wandering, way, yell), におい (aroma, fragrance, odour, scent, smell, stench), こうすい (hard water, mineral water, precipitation, rainfall), こうりょう (advance for manuscript, bleak, broad-hearted, collar, comparison, condolence gift, consideration, copy-money, deliberation, desolate, dragon which has already ascended to the heavens, duchy, dukedom, flavoring, general plan, generosity, hidden genius, hill, imperial mausoleum, main points, neck, principality, proofreading completed, radiation intensity, rain dragon, rations, spices, summary), けいこう (admiration, adoration, aroma, carrying, fame, fluorescence, fragrance, go right ahead, honor, inclination, love of virtue, mouth of a chicken, oral, reverence, tendency, trend). (various references) | |
Korean | 향수 (fragrance, nostalgia, Perfumes). (various references) | |
Manx | coorane, cooraghey. (various references) | |
Papago | uhwmath. (various references) | |
Papiamen | perfume, perfumá. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | erfumepay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | perfume (aroma, essence, fragrance, fragrancy, odor, odour, redolence, scent, smell), perfumar (embalm, fumigate, incense), fragrância (aroma, bouquet, breath, flavour, fragrance, fragrancy, odor, odour, scent). (various references) | |
Romanian | parfuma (aromatize, embalm, incense, scent, sweeten), parfum (aroma, bouquet, Flavor, flavour, fragrance, odor, odour, redolence, scent, smell, sweet), miros plãcut (odor, odour, redolence), mireasmã (breath, fragrance, odor, odour, scent), aromã (aroma, balm, Flavor, flavoring, flavour, flavouring, fragrance, nose, racy flavor, racy flavour, relish, scent, smack, taste), afuma (burn, corn, cure, deodorize, disinfect, fume, fumigate, gammon, pickle, reek, scent, smoke, smoke out, smoke-dry, smudge, steam, sulphur), înmiresma (embalm, scent, sweeten), îmbãlsãma (embalm, mummify, scent). (various references) | |
Romansch | parfum. (various references) | |
Russian | духи (essence, genii, scent). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | parfimisati, parfem, namirisati (scent, smelt down, use scent), miris (aroma, bouquet, flavor, flavour, fragrance, fragrancy, odor, odour, redolence, scent, smell). (various references) | |
Sicilian | profumu. (various references) | |
Spanish | perfume (odor, odour, redolence, scent). (various references) | |
Sranan | switismeri. (various references) | |
Swedish | parfym (scent), vällukt (fragrance, fragrancy, redolence, scent), parfymera (scent). (various references) | |
Turkish | parfüm sürmek (perfume oneself), parfüm, güzel koku vermek, güzel koku (aroma, flavour, fragrance, scent, sweet, sweetness). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | робити запашним (odorize), надушити духами, аромат (aroma, flavour, fragrance, fragrancy, nose, nosegay, odor, odour, scent), духи (nosegay, scent). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | mùi thơm nước hoa, hương thơm, dầu thơm. (various references) | |
Welsh | perarogli (embalm), perarogl (aroma, fragrance), arogl (odor, scent, smell). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Sumerian | 3100 BCE-2500 BCE | 2. ir, i-dug, im, im-su-SA. (various references) |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | hedychrum, heliodoro, odoramentis, odoramentorum, odoratur, odoratusque, odorem, odoremque, odores, odoretur, per-, sufficerat. (various references) |
| Avestan | 200-600 | baodhô, baoidhi. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | John Chapter 12, Verse 5 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Diati touto to muron ouk epraqh triakosiwn dhnariwn kai edoqh ptwcoiV |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Quare hoc unguentum non veniit trecentis denariis et datum est egenis |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | Hwy ne sealde hyo þas sealfe for þremhundreð panega þæt man mihta daelenþarfian. |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | Seide, Whi is not this oynement seeld for thre hundrid pens, and is youun to nedi men? |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | Why was not this oyntmet solde for thre hondred pence and geve to the poore? |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | Why was not this perfume traded for three hundred pence, and the money given to the poor? |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | John Chapter 12, Verse 5 |
| Cebuano | "Ngano nga kining pahumot wala man hinoon ibaligyag tulo ka gatus ka denario, ug ang halin ihatag sa mga kabus?" |
| Croatian | "Zašto se ta pomast nije prodala za trista denara i razdala siromasima?" |
| Danish | "Hvorfor blev denne Salve ikke solgt for tre Hundrede Denarer og given til fattige?" |
| Dutch | Waarom is deze zalf niet verkocht voor driehonderd penningen, en den armen gegeven? |
| Finnish | "Miksi ei tätä voidetta myyty kolmeensataan denariin ja niitä annettu köyhille?" |
| French | Pourquoi n`a-t-on pas vendu ce parfum trois cent deniers, pour les donner aux pauvres? |
| German | Warum ist diese Salbe nicht verkauft um dreihundert Groschen und den Armen gegeben? |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | "Mengapa minyak wangi itu tidak dijual saja dengan harga tiga ratus uang perak, dan uangnya diberikan kepada orang miskin?" |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | "Apakah sebabnya minyak ini tiada dijual dengan harga tiga ratus dinar, dan disedekahkan kepada orang miskin?" |
| Italian | «Perché quest'olio profumato non si è venduto per trecento denari per poi darli ai poveri?». |
| Latvian | Kâpçc ðo svaidâmo eïïu nepârdeva par trîs simts denârijiem un tos neizdalîja nabagiem? |
| Maori | He aha tenei hinu te hokona ai ki nga pene e toru rau, ka hoatu ai ki te hunga rawakore? |
| Norwegian | Hvorfor blev ikke denne salve solgt for tre hundre penninger og gitt til de fattige? |
| Portuguese | Por que não se vendeu este bálsamo por trezentos denários e não se deu aos pobres? |
| Rumanian | ,,De ce nu s`a vkndut acest mir cu trei sute de lei, wi sq se fi dat sqracilor?`` |
| Russian | дМС ЮЕЗП ВЩ ОЕ РТПДБФШ ЬФП НЙТП ЪБ ФТЙУФБ ДЙОБТЙЕЧ Й ОЕ ТБЪДБФШ ОЙЭЙН? |
| Shuar | "¿Urukamtai nu kunkuinian ti kuitjai surukchama Kuítrinchan Súsatniun?" |
| Spanish | --¿Por qué no fue vendido este perfume por trescientos denarios y dado a los pobres? |
| Swahili | "Kwa nini marashi hayo hayakuuzwa kwa fedha dinari mia tatu, wakapewa maskini?" |
| Swedish | "Varför sålde man icke hellre denna smörjelse för tre hundra silverpenningar* och gav dessa åt de fattiga?" |
| Uma | "Masuli' lia oli-na lana tetu, nte tolu atu doi pera'. Napa-di-hana pai' uma rapobalu' lau, pai' doi-na rawai' -raka tokabu!" |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "perfume": perfumed, perfumer, perfumeries, perfumers, perfumery, perfumes. (additional references) | |
| |
"Perfume" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: parfume, parvum, perfo, perfumier, perrfum, Perruno, Peruke, perum, purfume. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "perfume" (pronounced perfyuw"m) |
| 4 | -f y uw" m | fume. |
| 3 | -y uw" m | exhume. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-e-f-m-p-r-u" | |
-2 letters: femur, frump, fumer, puree, rupee. | |
-3 letters: emeu, feme, fere, free, fume, mere, mure, peer, perm, pree, pure, reef, rump. | |
-4 letters: eme, emf, emu, ere, fee, fem, fer, feu, fur, pee, per, pur, ree, ref, rem, rep, rue, rum, ump. | |
-5 letters: ef, em, er, me, mu, pe, re, um, up. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-e-f-m-p-r-u" | |
+1 letter: perfumed, perfumer, perfumes. | |
+2 letters: perfumers, perfumery. | |
+4 letters: perfumeries, unperformed. | |
+5 letters: outperformed, preformulate. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Familiar 10. Quotations: Fiction 11. Quotations: Non-fiction 12. Usage Frequency | 13. Names: Derived from 14. Expressions 15. Expressions: Internet 16. Translations: Modern | 17. Translations: Ancient 18. Bible Trace 19. Derivations 20. Rhymes | 21. Anagrams 22. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
