Introduction: Essential tremor is commonly considered as a benign and high prevalence disease; however its study is not systematized even in its definition. Methods: We did a literature review related to essential tremor enhanced with our own experience in this matter. Results: We performed a critical review of different issues of essential tremor from definition to association to others neurological diseases. We focused on controversial points and lesser known issues by a non specialist physician. Discussion: We analyzed the complexity of this disease, its association with other neurological diseases, in particular Parkinson disease and cognitive decline. We proposed different variants ofessential tremor according prognosis. Conclusion: Essential tremor is a heterogeneous disease from clinical and etiological point of view. There are variants with different long term outcome.