Meanings
plural gasolenes
- alternativeuncountableusuallyAlternative spelling of gasoline.
Naphtha, of the kind usually known as gasolene, is taxed five per cent ad valorem
1864 May 27, The Pittsburgh Commercial, page 11 more example
REFINED COLZA, GASOLENE, PETROLENE, and all Oils suitable for Paraffin and other Lamps.
1863, The Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle, 09-12, p, 8
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna volatile flammable mixture of hydrocarbons (hexane and heptane and octane etc.) derived from petroleum; used mainly as a fuel in internal-combustion engines
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From Cazeline (possibly influenced by Gazeline, the name of an Irish copy), a brand of petroleum-derived lighting oil, from the surname of the man who first marketed it in 1862, John Cassell, and the suffix –eline, from Greek ἔλαιον (élaion, “oil, olive oil”), from ἐλαία (elaía, “olive”). Gasolene is found from 1863, and gasoline from 1864.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
gasolene. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gasolene
“gasolene.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gasolene. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gasolene,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gasolene.
Source: gasolene on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.