petroleum en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /pəˈtɹoʊliəm/ (General-American)
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin petroleum. Doublet of petrol.
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) A flammable liquid ranging in color from clear to very dark brown and black, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring naturally in deposits under the Earth's surface.
Coal and petroleum do not occur hap-hazard in nature, but the aggregate occurrence of each product in any region forms a definite, limited horizon, which, in its continuance, is independent of the bedding plane.
1940, William Plotts, Isogeotherm, Or Monist Theory of Stratified Mineral Occurrence and Origin, page 7:petroleum-based products
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| petroleums | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| petrolaeum | alternative, archaic | lexicographic | |
| petrolea | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| petrolæum | alternative, archaic | lexicographic |
Deriveds
postpetroleum · petroleum jelly · liquefied petroleum gas · petrol · petroleum tanker · petroleum spirit · antipetroleum · nonpetroleum · packaged petroleum product · Petroleum County · biopetroleum · petroleum coke · petronoia · petroleum reservoir · petroleum ether · petroleum fly
Relateds
petrol · oleo oil · oleo · oleic · oleo- · linoleum
Synonyms
black gold · Texas tea · petrol · dino oil · dinosaur juice · crude oil · dinosaur oil · petroleum · dino juice · juice · gasoline · gas · oil · oil