fuel English · revision 3772

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1200|origins=la focus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈfjuː.əl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|feuel]] or fewel,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|fouaille|t=fuel for heating; bundle of firewood]] (Anglo-French fuaille),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la-med|focālia|t=the right to demand material for making fire]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from Latin focālia “brushwood for fuel”, neuter plural of [[la|focālis|t=of a hearth]],^(Etymonline) from [[m|la|focus|t=hearth, fireplace]], in Late Latin “fire”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) It is related to [[focus]], [[foyer]] and [[curfew]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Material for burning: about 1200 in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) probably before 1200 in the ''Ancrene Riwle'' according to Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988) The OED's earliest examples are from the 14th-century romance of ''Richard Coer de Lion''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The meaning has shifted from where the fire was laid to what was burned.^(Cresswell 2021) The figurative sense, something that feeds a passion or excitement, is from about 1580.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Food as fuel for the body is from 1876,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) a combustible liquid for an internal combustion engine from 1886,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) rocket propellant from 1922, and nuclear fuel from 1946.^(OED 1989) ''Fuel oil'' is from 1882.^(Etymonline) The verb, to feed with fuel, is from about 1592, in Marlowe's ''Massacre at Paris'';^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) “to take on fuel” is from 1880.^(Etymonline) ''Fuel poverty'', the inability to afford adequate heating and power, is found from the 1970s.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – material for burning.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1580 – figurative.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1592 – verb.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1876 – food for the body.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1886 – engine fuel.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1922 – rocket fuel.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1946 – nuclear fuel.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1970s – ''fuel poverty''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A material such as wood, coal, gas or oil burned to produce heat or power.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # [[fissile|alt=Fissile]] material used in a [[nuclear reactor]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Food, as a source of energy for the body.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Something that feeds or intensifies an emotion or conflict.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To provide with fuel, or to take on fuel.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To stimulate or [[intensify]]: ''to fuel speculation''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fueler]]

+ * [[biofuel]]

+ * [[defuel]]

+ * [[fuelwood]]

+ * [[nonfuel]]

+ * [[refuel]]

+ * [[synfuel]]

+ * [[fossil fuel]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[focus]]

+ * [[foyer]]

+ * [[curfew]]

+ * [[fusil]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Herefordshire dialect ''fuel'' meant garden produce.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}