petrol

noun

pet·​rol ˈpe-trəl 

-ˌträl

chiefly British

: gasoline

Examples of petrol in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And while the Mark 1 Miata was powered by a 1.6 or 1.8-liter petrol powerplant, there's now a 'drop-in' EV kit available. —Matthew MacConnell, Forbes, 4 Dec. 2024

Lastly, the glass disc is covered with a transparent appliqué of petrol blue enamel. —Oren Hartov, Robb Report, 18 Sep. 2024

Reuters — The man accused of dousing in petrol and setting alight Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei has died from burns sustained during the fatal attack on the Ugandan athlete, a hospital official said on Tuesday. —Reuters, CNN, 10 Sep. 2024

Following the trend of reviving old model names for new cars, Honda is set to bring the Prelude name back with a petrol hybrid powertrain soon. —Trinity Francis, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024

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.

First Known Use

1895, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing petrol

• petrol bomb
• petrol station

Kids Definition

petrol

noun

pet·​rol ˈpe-trəl 

-ˌträl

chiefly British

: gasoline