The story
- Ancient Greek · derived fromπετρέλαιον“oil of the rock”
- Medieval Latin · derived frompetroleum
- French · borrowed from(essence de) pétrole
- English todaypetrol
Borrowed from French (essence de) pétrole, from Medieval Latin petroleum, from Ancient Greek πετρέλαιον (petrélaion, “oil of the rock”), from πέτρα (pétra, “stone, rock”)+ ἔλαιον (élaion, “olive oil, any oily substance”). Doublet of petroleum.
Words from the same roots
Medieval Latinpetroleum all →
petroleum
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.