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Synonyms

petroleum

American  
[puh-troh-lee-uhm] / pəˈtroʊ li əm /

noun

  1. an oily, thick, flammable, usually dark-colored liquid that is a form of bitumen or a mixture of various hydrocarbons, occurring naturally in various parts of the world and commonly obtained by drilling: used in a natural or refined state as fuel, or separated by distillation into gasoline, naphtha, benzene, kerosene, paraffin, etc.

petroleum British  
/ pəˈtrəʊlɪəm /

noun

  1. a dark-coloured thick flammable crude oil occurring in sedimentary rocks around the Persian Gulf, in parts of North and South America, and below the North Sea, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. Fractional distillation separates the crude oil into petrol, paraffin, diesel oil, lubricating oil, etc. Fuel oil, paraffin wax, asphalt, and carbon black are extracted from the residue

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
petroleum Scientific  
/ pə-trō′lē-əm /

  1. A thick, flammable, yellow-to-black mixture of gaseous, liquid, and solid hydrocarbons that occurs naturally beneath the Earth's surface. It can be separated into fractions including natural gas, gasoline, naphtha, kerosene, paraffin wax, asphalt, and fuel and lubricating oils, and is used as raw material for a wide variety of derivative products. It is believed to originate from the accumulated remains of fossil plants and animals, especially in shallow marine environments.

Other Word Forms

  • petroleous adjective

Etymology

Origin of petroleum

1520–30; < Medieval Latin: literally, rock oil, equivalent to Latin petr ( a ) rock (< Greek pétra ) + oleum oil

Compare meaning

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

On Thursday, Bangladesh hiked prices of liquefied petroleum gas used for cooking and compressed natural gas used in some cars by 29 percent.

From Barron's • Apr. 2, 2026

Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, reducing daily petroleum supplies and potentially pushing Brent crude to $200 a barrel.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

The moves are a side effect of the war with Iran, which has spread across more of the Middle East, creating tighter supplies of oil and petroleum products such as jet fuel.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

People who are struggling and rely on heating oil or liquid petroleum gas will be eligible for a one-off payment of £200 if they are part of the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026

He arrived at the Rad Lab skeptical about electromagnetic separation, having been convinced of the superiority of gaseous diffusion by his technical advisors, who came from a petroleum industry familiar with that technology.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.