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

Or, harvest fruit and vegetables with the chefs, bake alongside the farm’s artisan baker and discover the magic of essential oil distillation in the Scented Room. —Lanee Lee, Forbes.com, 21 June 2025

Harvesting too early or late reduces essential oil potency, hurting quality and profits. —Erik Otárola-Castillo, Time, 7 June 2025

Make sure to book in at the charming Alchemy Bar, where a local holistic wellness therapist will guide you through the process of making your own face masks and scrubs, selecting your favorite essential oils to make it. —Liam Hess, Vogue, 3 June 2025

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

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