Etymology

petroleum

P3E1T1R1O1L1E1U1M3

Today it means: 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. Full definition →

Medieval Latin petroleum
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The story

  1. Medieval Latin · learned borrowing frompetroleum
  2. English todaypetroleum

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin petroleum. Doublet of petrol.

Words from the same roots

Medieval Latinpetroleum all →

petrol

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.