petrochemical
/pˌɛtɹoʊkˈɛmɪkəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.97 in modern English
24
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
5
Syllables
11
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any chemical derived from any of the fossil fuels: petroleum, natural gas, or coal.
adj
Of or pertaining to the such compounds, or the industry that produces them.
Example Sentences
- "Another is a Bloomberg project we're participating in that looks beyond petrochemicals."
- "As the prices of petroleum, natural gas, and coal fluctuate over the years, the petrochemical industry can to some extent switch feedstocks."
- "In 2006, about 6 percent of the world's crude oil production was used in non-energy applications, primarily as a petrochemical feedstock."
Etymology
Etymology tree Pre-Greekder.? Ancient Greek πέτρᾱ (pétrā)bor. Latin petrader. English petro- Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰew- Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Hellenic *-mə Ancient Greek -μᾰ (-mă) Ancient Greek χῠ́μᾰ (khŭ́mă) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ία (-ía) Ancient Greek χυμείᾱ (khumeíā)bor. Arabic الْكِيمِيَاء (al-kīmiyāʔ)bor. Medieval Latin alchēmia ▲ Ancient Greek χυμείᾱ (khumeíā)influ. New Latin chēmia Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icus New Latin chēmicus Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālisbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al English -al English chemical English petrochemical From petro- + chemical.
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Chemistry.