In the title methyl-benzoate compound, C(16)H(16)O(3), the mol-ecule is essentially planar (r.m.s. of all fitted non-H atoms = 0.0370 Å); the dihedral angle between the phenyl rings is 2.30 (7)°. Apart from a C-H⋯π inter-action, no marked inter-molecular contacts are obvious.