תתרן (Tatran) — anosmic

Etymology

The word tatran (originally appearing as totran) has its origins in a bizarre and mysterious anecdote found in the Babylonian Talmud (Bava Batra 146). The story describes a husband who hears rumors that his wife is a totranit. To test her, he takes her into a ruin and claims to smell radishes growing in the distant Galilee. Her cryptic response leads the rabbis to a ruling regarding inheritance rights after she is killed in the collapse of the building.

While the original meaning of the story remains a subject of debate, the Geonim (the leaders of the Babylonian academies in the early medieval period) interpreted the term as referring to someone who completely lacks the sense of smell. This "medical" interpretation was accepted by rabbinic scholars throughout the Middle Ages, appearing in halakhic works such as the 13th-century Or Zarua to discuss whether an anosmic person can recite blessings over spices.

In the 20th century, linguists such as Avraham Avrunin and Naftali Herz Tur-Sinai challenged the traditional definition. They argued that the word is likely derived from the root Y.T.R (meaning "remnant" or "extra"). Under this theory, the woman was either a "remnant of the Amorites"—a group associated with witchcraft—or someone with "extra-sensory" smelling abilities. In this light, the husband was testing her for supernatural or demonic traits rather than a physical disability. Despite these linguistic doubts, the "lack of smell" definition became firmly rooted in the language and remains the standard term in Modern Hebrew today.

Key Quotes

"מעשה באדם אחד שאמרו לו אשתו תותרנית היא, ונכנס אחריה לחורבה לבודקה (ו)אמר לה ריח צנון אני מריח בגליל." — Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 146a

"פתרון תתרנית שאין מריחה כלום ואין מרגשת בריח ומי שאינו מריח כלום נקרא תתרן, ומכה זאת נקראת תתרות" — Teshuvot HaGeonim (Kish ed., Siman 98), ~9th Century

"ואדם שהוא תותרן ואינו מריח אם יכול לברך בורא עצי בשמים כדי להוציא אחרים דבר..." — Or Zarua, Isaac ben Moses of Vienna, 13th Century

Timeline

• 3rd Century CE: Rav Yehuda bar Ezekiel records the story of the totranit in the Babylonian Talmud.
• 9th-11th Century: The Geonim solidify the definition of tatran as "anosmic" in their responsa.
• 13th Century: The term appears in European rabbinic literature (Or Zarua) regarding laws of blessings.
• 1950s: Linguists Avrunin and Tur-Sinai propose the alternative etymology related to the root Y.T.R.

Related Words

• יתר (yeter) — remnant/extra (proposed linguistic root)
• חירש (cheresh) — deaf (often categorized alongside tatran in dictionaries)
• עיוור (iver) — blind