effluve means “smell” | MotiTan French Dictionary

More examples

Un effluve nauséabond s'échappait des poubelles.

A nauseating odor was wafting from the trash cans.

A delicate scent emerging from a person, place, or substance as an almost visible trace.

odeur: A smell that is clearly noticeable in the surrounding area.
parfum: A fragrance deliberately applied with perfume or scented products.

Trace olfactive, souvent subtile, qui se dégage d'une matière, d'un lieu ou d'une personne.

The noun is a French borrowing from Latin effluvium, formed from effluere, to flow out, which named something issuing from a source.

Effluve is more literary and descriptive than ordinary odeur, which is the usual everyday word for a smell.