pétrole

Forms

pétrole m (plural pétroles)^[1] Older forms include petteroile (about 1240), petrole (13th century), petroille (14th–15th centuries), petroleon (15th century), peterolle (1669), pétréol (1690) and petroleum (1695), the last two still in use in the 18th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin petroleum (“mineral oil”) (13th century; also, redundantly, petroleum oleum), literally “rock oil”, a compound of Latin petra (“rock, stone”) and oleum (“oil”).^[3][2][4][5] A 13th-century text already explains it so: Por ce la claime l'en petrole que c'est une huile que l'en fait de pierre (“it is called petrole because it is an oil made from stone”).^[4] Bloch and Wartburg call it a word that has become European.^[4] The Latin parts are those of pierre and huile.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as petteroile about 1240, in the French translation of Roger of Salerno's surgery, meaning natural mineral oil;^[3] petrole appears in the 13th-century Livre des simples medecines.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Long rare and learned (the Robert dictionaries count the 13th-century record as isolated and date continuous use from 1611),^[5][6] the word became common in the 19th century, when petroleum was used for lighting, and even more from the early 20th century, when refined petroleum began to fuel internal-combustion engines.^[2] Lampe à pétrole “oil lamp” is recorded in 1866 and pétrole lampant “kerosene” in 1903.^[3]

In slang it has meant a bad wine (1881) and a brandy (1896).^[2] After its colour it names a shade in bleu pétrole and vert pétrole (1962), a greyish blue or green.^[3][2][7] During the Paris Commune of 1871 the derivative pétroleur, pétroleuse was coined for the insurgents who set fires with petroleum.^[2][4]

English borrowed the French word as petrol, first in the 1580s for the crude substance, and since 1895 for refined motor fuel.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1240 – Petteroile appears in a French translation of Roger of Salerno's surgery.^[3][2]
• 13th century – The form petrole is used in the Livre des simples medecines.^[3][9]
• 16th century – Palissy speaks of huile de petrolle, which comes out of the rocks.^[10]
• 1611 – Continuous use begins, according to the Robert dictionaries.^[5][6]
• 1866 – Lampe à pétrole is recorded.^[3]
• 1867 – The derivative pétrolifère “oil-bearing” appears.^[2]
• 1871 – Pétroleur and pétroleuse are coined during the Commune.^[2][4]
• 1881 – Slang uses it for a bad wine.^[2]
• 1895 – English petrol “gasoline” is recorded.^[8]
• 1962 – Bleu pétrole and vert pétrole are recorded as colour names.^[3][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Petroleum, crude oil: the natural combustible mineral oil found in underground deposits and used as a source of energy: un puits de pétrole.^[6][11][3]
2. A product of the distillation of petroleum, especially lamp oil, kerosene: une lampe à pétrole.^[11][3][9]

Adjective

1. (invariable, in apposition) Of a greyish blue or green: bleu pétrole, vert pétrole.^[7][11][3]

Word family

• pétrolette
• pétroleur
• pétrolier
• pétrolifère
• pétroler
• pétroleuse
• pétrolerie

Related words

• pierre
• huile
• Medieval Latin petroleum
• English petrol

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)