petroleum

noun

pe·tro·leum pə-ˈtrō-lē-əm

-ˈtrōl-yəm

: an oily flammable bituminous liquid that may vary from almost colorless to black, occurs in many places in the upper strata of the earth, is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons with small amounts of other substances, and is prepared for use as gasoline, naphtha, or other products by various refining processes

Examples of petroleum in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web His actions raised ire in petroleum company boardrooms, enraged Kern County officials and left small-town governments at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley grappling with shrinking tax rolls. —

Louis Sahagún, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2023 Oil shale is essentially petroleum embedded in sedimentary rock. —

Tim Fitzpatrick, The Salt Lake Tribune, 13 Sep. 2023 Given a limited amount of drilling was taking place there prior to the ban, there’s a slim chance consumers will feel more pain at the pump from this, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. —

Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN, 7 Sep. 2023 Entire industries—and a lot of good jobs—are heavily dependent on exports, including transportation equipment, chemicals, machinery, computer and electronic products, petroleum and coal products, primary metals, and medical equipment. —

Alan Wolff, Fortune, 28 Aug. 2023 On the other hand, paraffin waxes are derived from petroleum which is a non-renewable resource and may emit some pollutants into the air, explains Hall. —

Jenna Clark, Southern Living, 24 Aug. 2023 The price is still below the $3.93 people paid one year ago, but Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at gas price tracker GasBuddy, sees the potential for prices to rise above that before summer ends. —

Medora Lee, USA TODAY, 19 Aug. 2023 Head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, Patrick De Haan believes that prices are only going to get higher. —

The Arizona Republic, 18 Aug. 2023 The South Coast Air Quality Management District voted 9 to 0 to amend current rules and require more stringent vapor controls for storage tanks that hold crude oil, gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other petroleum products. —

Tony Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'petroleum.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, "mineral oil," borrowed from Medieval Latin, "mineral oil, crude oil," from Latin petra "rock" (borrowed from Greek pétra) + oleum "oil" — more at petro-, oil entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of petroleum was in the 15th century

See more words from the same century

Cite this Entry

Style

“Petroleum.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/petroleum. Accessed 29 Sep. 2023.

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Kids Definition

petroleum

noun

pe·tro·leum pə-ˈtrō-lē-əm

-ˈtrōl-yəm

: an oily flammable liquid that may vary from almost colorless to black, is obtained from wells drilled in the ground, and is the source of gasoline, kerosene, fuel oils, and other products