petroleum
/pətˈɹəʊliəm/puh-TROH-lee-uhm
/pətˈɹoʊliəm/puh-TROH-lee-uhm
Meaningrock oil
Common meaning: oil found in rock
- petra rockLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 1206 · scan
- oleoil, especially olive oilLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1261 · scan
- umLatin neuter ending
‘a rock’ + ‘oil, especially olive oil’ → petroleum
Journey through time
Hybrid: Greek + Latin Its parts come from different languages; our sources do not record where they were first put together.
Only the petr half is traced; the path of ole is not in our sources yet.
- petr — Greek πέτρα “a rock” (path traced)
- ole — Latin oleum “oil, especially olive oil” (dictionary form; path not traced)
- Greekπέτρα‘a rock’
- Latinpeir
- Englishpetroleum‘oil found in rock’ · today
ole also in: oleaginousoil
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Greek πέτρα ‘a rock’ + Latin oleum ‘oil, especially olive oil’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry oleum, p. 1261 · dictionary scan
Roots
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app