'cologne' originates from French, specifically the place-name 'Cologne' (the French form of the German city name 'Köln'), which itself comes from Latin 'Colonia' meaning 'colony' or 'settlement'.

'cologne' changed from the French place-name 'Cologne' (referring to the German city) into the product name 'Eau de Cologne' in the early 18th century (perfumed water from Cologne), and eventually the English noun 'cologne' came to mean any light perfume.

Initially it meant 'from Cologne' or a specific perfumed water produced in Cologne; over time it evolved into the general term for a light, often male, perfume.