palm oil

American  

noun

palm oils plural

1. a yellow butterlike oil derived from the fruit of the oil palm and used as an edible fat and for making soap, candles, etc.

2. oil obtained from various species of palm.

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palm oil British  

noun

1. a yellow butter-like oil obtained from the fruit of the oil palm, used as an edible fat and in soap

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• palm oils
  plural

Etymology

Origin of palm oil

First recorded in 1620–30

Example Sentences

Both sugar and Indonesian palm oil are among the commodities threatened by what meteorologists expect to be an especially strong El Nino, which could bring drought and disrupt rainfall patterns across key farming regions.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 3, 2026

It expects dry weather to tighten palm oil supply, with the full impact on fresh fruit bunch yields likely to emerge in 2027 due to the crop’s biological lag.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 29, 2026

Find insight on crude palm oil, gold, Voestalpine and more in the latest Market Talks covering basic materials.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026

Ng sees prices of crude palm oil supported above 4,500 ringgit a ton and face resistance at 4,750 ringgit a ton.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026

We bought some rice, some palm oil, salt, and fish; by the time we were done, the market was filling up with people hurriedly trying to buy whatever they could afford.

From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah