Designed to counteract or neutralize noxious fumes, bad smells, or unhealthy vapors.
From anti- + mephitic, where mephitic comes from Latin 'mephitis' (noxious vapor, bad smell). The term originated in 17th-18th century medicine when doctors believed disease was spread by 'miasma'—evil-smelling air.
Antimephitic products were huge in the 1700s when people literally tried to smell their way to health—they'd burn aromatics to ward off plague! While their germ theory was wrong, they accidentally discovered that some scents (like lavender) actually have real antimicrobial properties.
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