Where does “petroleum” come from?
Petroleum comes from Medieval Latin petroleum, formed from Latin oleum (oil) and petra (stone), ultimately deriving from Ancient Greek ἔλαιον (élаion, oil).
petroleum (English): a flammable liquid ranging in color from clear to...
Definitions
- a flammable liquid ranging in color from clear to...
Ancestry of “petroleum”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Medieval Latin | petroleum | — |
| 2 | Latin | oleum | olive oil; the palaestra |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | ἔλαιον | olive oil, commonly used as an anointing oil; any... |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | ἐλαία | olive tree; olive; naevus |
| 5 | Proto-Hellenic | elaíwā | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | loiwom | — |
Words derived from “petroleum”