Essential oils Meaning, Definition & Usage

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

WordNet

Definitions
  1. (Chem.), a class of volatile oils, extracted from plants, fruits, or flowers, having each its characteristic odor, and hot burning taste. They are used in essences, perfumery, etc., and include many varieties of compounds; as lemon oil is a terpene, oil of bitter almonds an aldehyde, oil of wintergreen an ethereal salt, etc.; called also volatile oils in distinction from the fixed or nonvolatile.

Webster 1913