Recent Examples on the WebDamien Ernst, an energy expert and professor at the University of Liege in Belgium, said the strikes have taken more than 10 percent of Russia’s oil-refining capacity off line, temporarily reducing the country’s ability to turn its crude oil into usable products like gasoline, diesel and petrol.—Constant Méheut, New York Times, 9 May 2024 Nothing lasts forever, not even an array of colors brightening up a puddle of petrol.—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 9 May 2024 Cars are changing massively, from petrol to electric to driverless.—Julia Hobsbawm, Fortune, 22 Apr. 2024 Even in Norway, which is on track to become the first market to have more EVs on its roads than petrol cars, sales halved in the past year.—Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 19 Apr. 2024 See all Example Sentences for petrol
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'petrol.' 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
borrowed from French pétrole "petroleum, any of various products distilled from petroleum," going back to Old French petteroile, petrole "mineral oil, petroleum," borrowed from Medieval Latin petroleum — more at petroleum
Note:
The use of the word in English is apparently owed to a cooperative endeavor by the British distilling and oil refining firm Carless, Capel and Leonard and the engineer Frederick Richard Simms, who had purchased the rights to Gottlieb Daimler's gasoline-powered engine. Though an attempt to register petrol as a trademark was unsuccessful, Carless, Capel and Leonard continued to use it as a marketing name. Note that French pétrole (rather than essence de pétrole) is used for distilled petroleum products by Gustave Richard in Les nouveaux moteurs à gaz et à pétrole (Paris, 1892). The now usual French word essence for "gasoline" is shortened from essence de pétrole.
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