oil
[ˈɔ.jəɫ]
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.10 in modern English
3
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Oil is found in countries such as Saudi Arabia and is transported all over the world."
- "The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices). It was used to make kerosene, the main fuel for artificial lighting after overfishing led to a shortage of whale blubber."
- "Yet, in another way, I was unable to put Picasso's oils in the same class as Cezanne's, or even (which will no doubt shock many readers) as Renoir's."
- "I prefer to paint in oil"
- "Before they went to see Glinda, however, they were taken to a room of the Castle, where Dorothy washed her face and combed her hair, and the Lion shook the dust out of his mane, and the Scarecrow patted himself into his best shape, and the Woodman polished his tin and oiled his joints."
- "Platform faces in Holland are further back from the track than they are in Britain, and it is a common thing to see a driver standing quite comfortably between his engine and the platform while oiling the motion."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Hellenic *élaiwon Ancient Greek ἔλαιον (élaion)der. Latin oleumder. Latin olea Old French oilebor. Middle English oyle English oil From Middle English oyle, oile (“olive oil”), borrowed from Old French oile, from Latin oleum (“oil, olive oil”), from Ancient Greek ἔλαιον (élaion, “olive oil”), from ἐλαία (elaía, “olive”). Compare Proto-Slavic *lojь. More at olive. Doublet of oleum. Supplanted Middle English ele (“oil”), from Old English ele (“oil”), also from Latin.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɔɪl/
- British English: /ɔɪl/