Aromatics

Etymology

From Greek "aroma" (spice, sweet herb), via Latin and Old French. In cooking, the plural came to name the whole opening cast of fragrant ingredients that a cook sweats in fat to set the tone of a dish.

noun · /air-uh-MAT-iks/
The fragrant vegetables, herbs, and spices — onion, garlic, celery, ginger — cooked early to build a base of flavor.
What it names
The foundation layer of countless dishes, the smell that fills a kitchen the moment cooking truly begins.
Example
Every good curry starts by frying the aromatics — onion, garlic, and ginger — until they turn golden and fragrant.
Related idea
Aromatics blur the herb-versus-spice line: an herb is the leaf of a plant, a spice is a seed, bark, or root, and aromatics happily draw from both plus fresh vegetables.