ESSENTIAL OIL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does essential oil mean? 

• ESSENTIAL OIL (noun)
  The noun ESSENTIAL OIL has 1 sense:

1. an oil having the odor or flavor of the plant from which it comes; used in perfume and flavorings

  Familiarity information: ESSENTIAL OIL used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ESSENTIAL OIL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An oil having the odor or flavor of the plant from which it comes; used in perfume and flavorings

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

essential oil; volatile oil

Hypernyms ("essential oil" is a kind of...):

oil (a slippery or viscous liquid or liquefiable substance not miscible with water)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "essential oil"):

ilang-ilang (oil distilled from flowers of the ilang-ilang tree; used in perfumery)

bitter almond oil (pale yellow essential oil obtained from bitter almonds by distillation from almond cake or meal)

atar; athar; attar; ottar (essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers)

clove oil; oil of cloves (essential oil obtained from cloves and used to flavor medicines)

costus oil (a yellow volatile essential oil obtained from costusroot; used in perfumes)

eucalyptus oil (an essential oil obtained from the leaves of eucalypts)

oil of turpentine; spirit of turpentine; turpentine; turps (volatile liquid distilled from turpentine oleoresin; used as paint thinner and solvent and medicinally)

absinthe oil; wormwood oil (a dark bitter oil obtained from wormwood leaves; flavors absinthe liqueurs)

linalool (a colorless fragrant liquid found in many essential oils)

 Context examples 

The essential oil of Origanum vulgare.

(Oregano Leaf Oil, NCI Thesaurus)

The essential oil obtained from ground nutmeg.

(Nutmeg Oil, NCI Thesaurus)

Oxides are found in essential oils.

(Organic Oxide, NCI Dictionary)

The essential oil of Origanum marjorana.

(Origanum majorana Leaf Extract, NCI Thesaurus)

The essential oil of Cymbopogon martini.

(Palmarosa Oil, NCI Thesaurus)

The essential oil extracted from the foliage and twigs of Melaleuca viridiflora.

(Niaouli Oil, NCI Thesaurus)

The essential oil of Myrtus communis.

(Myrtle Leaf Oil, NCI Thesaurus)

The essential oil from the leaves of Melaleuca leucadendra.

(Cajuput Oil, NCI Thesaurus)

An oil with little or no scent that is used to dilute or “carry” essential oils (scented liquid taken from plants).

(Carrier oil, NCI Dictionary)

The essential oil of Melaleuca quinquenervia.

(Melaleuca quinquenervia Leaf Oil, NCI Thesaurus)