smelling vs perception

smelling and perception both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
smelling	Yes	Yes	No	No
perception	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, perception is a hypernym of smelling; that is, perception is a word with a broader meaning than smelling:

Other hypernyms of smelling include sensing.

smelling (noun)	perception (noun)
the act of perceiving the odor of something	becoming aware of something via the senses
	the process of perceiving
	the representation of what is perceived; basic component in the formation of a concept
	a way of conceiving something
	knowledge gained by perceiving

smelling (adjective)	perception (adjective)
(used with `of' or `with') noticeably odorous