Etymologically
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petroleum

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 13:57. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /pəˈtrəʊ.li.əm/, US /pəˈtroʊ.li.əm/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin petroleum,[2][3][4][5] from petra (“rock”) and oleum (“oil”) (see oil),[2][3][4] the first from Ancient Greek πέτρα (pétrā).[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mineral oil found in rock: probably before 1425, in a translation of Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie, in Barnhart; the early 15th century in Etymonline,[2][3] which notes Anglo-French use in the mid-14th century.[3] The OED's first quotation is dated 1348–9.[7]

Semantic evolution

According to the Century Dictionary of 1895, the Persians, Greeks and Romans knew it as naphtha, and the name petroleum was not used in classical times.[3] Commercial production and refining began in 1859 in western Pennsylvania.[3] Attributive uses such as petroleum lamp are recorded from 1882.[7]

Timeline

  • 1348–9 – petroleum (OED).[7]
  • probably before 1425 – in Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie.[2]
  • 1859 – commercial production begins.[3]
  • 1882 – attributive uses.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A thick, flammable mixture of hydrocarbons found naturally beneath the earth's surface, separated by distillation into fuels such as petrol, kerosene and fuel oil; crude oil.

Word family

  • petroleous
  • petrol
  • petroleum ether
  • petroleum jelly
  • liquefied petroleum gas
  • linoleum
  • oleic
  • oleo
  • oleo oil
  • oleo-
  • oil
  • petrify
  • Peter

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press