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

That goes for bars of pungent soap, essential oils, sonic repellant devices, and hanging up pennies in bags of water, a favorite Internet myth. —Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 18 June 2025

Some common essential oils are lavender, cedar and lemongrass. —Bestreviews, Mercury News, 17 June 2025

Treatments are tailored and precise, using COMO’s own blend of essential oils that’s instanty addictive upon the first whiff, and the kind of touch that recalibrates both body and mind. —Rooksana Hossenally, Forbes.com, 14 June 2025

Some essential oils are as effective at deterring ants as chemical pesticides. —Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 May 2025

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