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

Forget about sonic devices, essential oils, and other scare devices to repel chipmunks. —Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 7 Aug. 2025

Lush offers a range of fragrances formulated with an organic jojoba oil base and an essential oil fragrance. —Laia Farran Graves, Forbes.com, 30 July 2025

Holistic health classes will focus on omega oils, essential oils and ways to restore one’s gut. —Elizabeth Marie Himchak, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 July 2025

Featuring 30 essential oils, the rosemary oil combats dandruff and lengthens hair. —Amy Schulman, People.com, 23 July 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