neroli oil

noun

ner·​o·​li oil ˈner-ə-lē- 

: a fragrant pale yellow essential oil obtained from flowers chiefly of the sour orange and used especially in cologne and as a flavoring

Examples of neroli oil in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

An amino acid complex helps fill in porous gaps in the hair's lipid layer to instantly smooth and provide a shiny finish, while neroli oil creates a high-shine glossy top coat. —Deanna Pai, Allure, 8 Aug. 2024

After a body buff using anti-aging caviar proteins that firm and hydrate, guests get a full-body neroli oil massage. —Katie Lockhart, Robb Report, 21 Nov. 2023

With clary sage and neroli oil, one handful is enough to loosen tense shoulders and a stiff neck. —Liana Schaffner, Allure, 21 Sep. 2023

Spiced pink pepper carries this warm fragrance, followed by a swirl of neroli oil, rum, vanilla, and smoky tobacco leaf that meld to create a round, complex scent. —Cai Cramer, Peoplemag, 29 Sep. 2022

Conversely, there’s the unexpectedly spicy Tom Ford Lost Cherry, or Maison Margiela’s Jazz Club, which features notes of pepper, neroli oil, and rum. —Kiana Murden, Vogue, 1 Apr. 2022

After the girls spelled two words correctly each — fidibus, haltere, nepeta and fewtrils — Thummala faltered on neroli oil, leaving Avant-garde the opportunity to claim the title. —Victoria Albert, CBS News, 9 July 2021

Word History

Etymology

earlier neroli "neroli oil," borrowed from French, of uncertain origin

Note: Since the seventeenth century neroli as the name for an essential oil obtained from sour orange flowers has been associated with Marie Anne de La Trémoille, Duchess of Bracciano (1641 or 2-1722); see Gilles Ménage, Le origini della lingua italiana (Geneva, 1685), p. 340: "Guanti di Neroli. Spezie di guanti profumati: così detti dalla Principessa di Neroli, oggi la Duchessa di Bracciano, laqual prima cominciò a promufargli [sic]" ("Neroli gloves. A kind of perfumed glove: so called from the Princess of Neroli, today the Duchess of Bracciano, who first began to perfume them"). Presumably, Marie Anne obtained the title "Princess of Neroli" from her marriage to Flavio Orsini, Duke of Bracciano, in 1675 (though Gilles Ménage does not actually say that). The Orsinis were lords of the commune and castle of Nerola for several centuries, but in 1644 the Bracciano branch of the family sold the feudal rights to Nerola and other fiefs near Rome to Taddeo Barberini, nephew of Urban VIII, whose pontificate set off a Barberini family scramble for titles and property (see Caroline Castiglio, Patrons and Adversaries: Nobles and Villagers in Italian Politics, 1640-1760, Oxford, 2005). Hence Flavio could not have rightly claimed the title "Prince of Nerola" in 1675, and there appears to be no indication he did so. However relevant this might be, another problem with the association of neroli with Marie Anne is the time of the word's first attestation: it is mentioned in a letter of Jean-Baptiste colbert written on November 11, 1672, more than two years prior to Anne Marie's marriage (see Pierre Clément, editor, Lettres, instructions et mémoires de Colbert, tome 7 [Paris, 1873], p. 65). The most notable part of Marie Anne's career followed the death of Flavio Orsini in 1698; having received a pension from Louis XIV, she attached herself to the household of the youthful Spanish king Philip V and exercised a considerable influence on policy in the early years of the Bourbon monarchy in Spain. Her true role, if any, in the story of neroli oil remains obscure.

First Known Use

1849, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

neroli oil

noun

ner·​o·​li oil ˈner-ə-lē- 

: a fragrant pale yellow essential oil obtained from orange flowers and used in perfume and as a flavoring

called also orange-flower oil