Meanings
plural essential oils
- A volatile oil, used to make perfumes and flavorings, especially one having the characteristic odor of the plant from which it is obtained.
The odours of many flowers so delightful to our sense of smell, as well as the disagreeable scents of others, are owing to the exhalation of their essential oils.
1789, Erasmus Darwin, The Loves of the Plants, J. Johnson, page 1021 more example
The use of essential oils – aromatic substances derived from plants – has been around for centuries, and studies suggest certain oils offer minor benefits to sleep (lavender) or headaches (peppermint).
2020 August 12, Adrian Horton, “The dark side of wellness: behind a Netflix series on a murky industry”, in The Guardian
Synonyms & antonyms
nounan oil having the odor or flavor of the plant from which it comes; used in perfume and flavorings
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Containing the essence of the plant's fragrance.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan oli essencial
- oli essencialvolatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Chinese Mandarin 精油
- 精油 (jīngyóu)volatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Danish æterisk olie
- æterisk olievolatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Dutch etherische olie
- etherische olievolatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Estonian eeterlik õli
- eeterlik õlivolatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Finnish eteerinen öljy
- eteerinen öljyvolatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
French huile essentielle
- huile essentiellevolatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
German ätherisches Öl
- ätherisches Ölvolatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Greek αιθέριο έλαιο
- αιθέριο έλαιο (aithério élaio)volatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Hungarian illóolaj
- illóolajvolatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Italian essenza
- essenzavolatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Japanese 精油, エッセンシャルオイル
- 精油 (seiyu)volatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
- エッセンシャルオイル (essensharu oiru)volatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Korean 정유
- 정유 (jeong'yu)volatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Latvian ēteriskā eļļa
- ēteriskā eļļavolatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Lithuanian eterinis aliejus
- eterinis aliejusvolatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Polish olejek eteryczny
- olejek eterycznyvolatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Portuguese óleo essencial
- óleo essencialvolatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Romanian ulei esențial
- ulei esențialvolatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Russian эфи́рное ма́сло
- эфи́рное ма́сло (efírnoje máslo)volatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Slovak éterický olej, esenciálny olej
- éterický olejvolatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
- esenciálny olejvolatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Spanish aceite esencial
- aceite esencialvolatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Swedish eterisk olja
- eterisk oljavolatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Thai น้ำมันหอมระเหย
- น้ำมันหอมระเหย (nám-man-hɔ̌ɔm-rá-hə̌əi)volatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Vietnamese tinh dầu
- tinh dầuvolatile oil used to make perfumes and flavourings
Cite this entry
essential oil. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/essential%20oil
“essential oil.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/essential%20oil. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “essential oil,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/essential%20oil.
Source: essential oil on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.