essential oil

noun

: any of a class of volatile oils that give plants their characteristic odors and are used especially in perfumes and flavorings, and for aromatherapy compare fixed oil

Examples of essential oil in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

It’s made with over 20 essential oils to help fuel hair growth, including rosemary and castor oils. —Kansas City Star, 27 Mar. 2026

It’s made with over 20 essential oils to help fuel hair growth, including rosemary and castor oils. —Miami Herald, 26 Mar. 2026

Happy Wax melts are made with soy wax, infused with essential oils, and free of phthalates, paraffin and parabens. —ABC News, 24 Mar. 2026

Its viral body mists are packed with essential oils that linger on the skin and cling to clothing for days, as seen with best-seller Sticky Dates. —Conçetta Ciarlo, Vogue, 23 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1674, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for essential oil

• aerofoil
• cinquefoil
• hydrofoil
• quatrefoil
• airfoil
• benzoyl
• despoil
• embroil
• etoile
• gargoyle
• recoil
• subsoil

Medical Definition

essential oil

noun

: any of a large class of volatile odoriferous oils of vegetable origin that give plants their characteristic odors and often other properties, that are obtained from various parts of the plants (as flowers, leaves, or bark) by steam distillation, expression, or extraction, that are usually mixtures of compounds (as aldehydes or esters), and that are used often in the form of essences in perfumes, flavorings, and pharmaceutical preparations

called also ethereal oil, volatile oil

compare fatty oil, fixed oil