Etymologically
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refinery

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 11:21. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /rɪˈfaɪnərɪ/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English refine + -ery,[2][3][4][5][6][7] after French raffinerie, recorded in French from 1666, first of sugar production.[2][4][7] The verb is itself formed from English re- + fine (“to make fine”).[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A place where sugar, oil, metal and the like are refined: 1716, in J. Chamberlayne's Magnae Britanniae Notitia,[2] the year Merriam-Webster also gives;[8] Etymonline dates the word from 1727.[3]

Semantic evolution

The word was first used in metal-working and sugar-making, and of petroleum by 1865.[3] From 1750 it also named a furnace for refining metal, especially for turning cast iron into malleable iron, a sense now mostly historical.[2][8] From 1746 to 1895 refinery also meant refinement, in later use only regionally.[2]

Timeline

  • 1716 – a place where sugar, metal and the like are refined.[2][8]
  • 1746 – refinement (obsolete by 1895).[2]
  • 1750 – a furnace for refining metal.[2]
  • 1865 – of petroleum.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A plant where a crude material such as petroleum, sugar or metal ore is purified: an oil refinery on the coast.[9][8][2]
  2. (historical) A furnace with a shallow hearth for refining pig iron into wrought iron.[8][2]
  • refine
  • refinement

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins