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

This set of six includes scents like lavender, menthol and eucalyptus, vanilla and orange, grapefruit, watermelon, and peppermint, each made with natural essential oils. —L. Daniela Alvarez, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Sep. 2025

There are many different types, including those that contain capsaicin, predator urine, or essential oils. —Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 25 Sep. 2025

Amara suggests a soak using apple cider vinegar and essential oils—peppermint, eucalyptus, and lime—to dissolve buildup. —Larry Stansbury, Essence, 23 Sep. 2025

Smoothing round poppy seeds and sea salt—which do the gentle buffing—come suspended in a hunk of detoxifying French blue clay, nourishing olive fruit oil, and zingy peppermint essential oil, the latter of which wakes you up better than any iPhone alarm. —Sophia Panych, Allure, 16 Sep. 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