Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

petroleum

/pəˈtɹoʊliəm/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.90 in modern English

Syllables: pe-tro-le-um
IPA: /pəˈtɹoʊliəm/

13

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

4

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A flammable liquid ranging in color from clear to very dark brown and black, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring naturally in deposits under the Earth's surface.

Countable; Uncountable

name

A place in the United States:

name

A place in the United States:

name

A place in the United States:

Example Sentences

"petroleum-based products"
"Coal and petroleum do not occur hap-hazard in nature, but the aggregate occurrence of each product in any region forms a definite, limited horizon, which, in its continuance, is independent of the bedding plane."

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin petroleum. Doublet of petrol.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /pəˈtɹoʊliəm/

Usage

Inflected Forms

petroleums (plural) petrolea (plural) petrolaeum (alternative, archaic) petrolæum (alternative, archaic)

Derived Forms

antipetroleum biopetroleum nonpetroleum petrol petronoia postpetroleum

Phrases

liquefied petroleum gas packaged petroleum product petroleum coke Petroleum County petroleum ether petroleum fly petroleum jelly petroleum reservoir

Frequently Paired Words

linoleum oleic oleo- oleo oleo oil petrol Petroleum County

Synonyms

crude oil oil Rogers black gold dino juice dino oil dinosaur juice dinosaur oil gas gasoline juice petrol

Rhymes With

linoleum

Questions

How do you pronounce petroleum?: The recorded pronunciation is /pəˈtɹoʊliəm/.
What does petroleum mean?: A flammable liquid ranging in color from clear to very dark brown and black, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring naturally in deposits under the Earth's surface.
Where does petroleum come from?: Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin petroleum. Doublet of petrol.

How to pronounce petroleum

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “petroleum”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/pəˈtɹoʊliəm/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “petroleum”.
Repeat and practice — Say “petroleum” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.