essential oil

noun

any of a class of volatile oils obtained from plants, possessing the odor and other characteristic properties of the plant, used chiefly in the manufacture of perfumes, flavors, and pharmaceuticals.

Origin of essential oil

First recorded in 1665–75

Words Nearby essential oil

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use essential oil in a sentence

To make it as much of a pleasure as this dirty job can be, she uses homemade bathroom cleaner with lemon and lavender essential oils.
5 simple ways to get your home in order, from ‘Clean Mama’ Becky Rapinchuk | Lindsey Roberts | February 4, 2021 | Washington Post
By infusing odor chemicals into tiny liquid droplets—think essential oils mixing with liquid in a humidifier—the chip could detect odors with unprecedented sensitivity.
Scientists Made a Biohybrid Nose Using Cells From Mosquitoes | Shelly Fan | January 26, 2021 | Singularity Hub
It’s set apart by an essential oil tray, which sits below the water tank, allowing for easy access and refill, and it includes a remote control for toggling between mist temperatures, mist levels, night mode, and more.
The best humidifier: Fight dry air (and a dry nose) all winter long | PopSci Commerce Team | January 15, 2021 | Popular-Science
Existing research suggests that various essential oils such as ginger, eucalyptus, peppermint, rose, and lavender may help reduce pain and anxiety.
To take the most relaxing bath ever, add some healthy tips | Rachel Feltman | January 3, 2021 | Popular-Science
It usually involves smelling different odorants, such as essential oils, at least twice a day for 10 to 15 seconds at a time over the course of weeks.
When coffee smells like gasoline: Covid isn’t just stealing senses — it may be warping them | Allyson Chiu | November 5, 2020 | Washington Post

The fine aromatic smell is found in all parts of the shrub, but the essential oil is only produced from the flowers.
The plant-lore and garden-craft of Shakespeare | Henry Nicholson Ellacombe
Take four ounces of powdered tartaric acid, and two drachms of essential oil of lemon.
Domestic French Cookery, 4th ed. | Sulpice Baru
It is black only because of its strength, being in fact almost the very essential oil of coffee.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 86, December, 1864 | Various
Constituent of essential oil of Myrtus communis, L.—Clear, colorl.
Merck's 1899 Manual | Merck & Co.
On distillation it yields an essential oil that is exceedingly fragrant.
The Art of Perfumery | G. W. Septimus Piesse

British Dictionary definitions for essential oil

essential oil

noun

any of various volatile organic oils present in plants, usually containing terpenes and esters and having the odour or flavour of the plant from which they are extracted: used in flavouring and perfumery: Compare fixed oil See also oleoresin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for essential oil

essential oil

[ ĭ-sĕn′shəl ]

Any of various volatile liquids, such as rose oil or lavender oil, that have a characteristic odor and are produced by plants. Essential oils are composed primarily of terpenes and of lesser quantities of alcohols, aldehydes, esters, phenols, and other compounds that impart particular odors or flavors. They are used to make perfumes, soaps, flavorings, and other products.

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