kerosene
See also: kérosène
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Ancient Greek κηρός (kērós, “wax”) + -ene; a name trademarked in 1854.
Pronunciation
Noun
kerosene (countable and uncountable, plural kerosenes)
- A thin colorless to straw-colored petroleum-based fuel heavier than gasoline/petrol or naptha but lighter than diesel, used primarily as jet fuel but also for heating and lighting in some remote or impoverished areas.
- 2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:
- 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. […] It was used to make kerosene, the main fuel for artificial lighting after overfishing led to a shortage of whale blubber. Other liquids produced in the refining process, too unstable or smoky for lamplight, were burned or dumped.
- The kerosene lasted all winter, so the furnace kept us always warm.
- Synonym: paraffin (UK)
Synonyms
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
thin, colorless fuel
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Portuguese
Noun
kerosene m (plural kerosenes)
Spanish
Pronunciation
Noun
kerosene m (plural kerosenes)
Categories:
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