kerosene

See also: kérosène

English
Glass bottles of kerosene near Moscow, Russia.

Alternative forms

Etymology

Ancient Greek κηρός (kērós, “wax”) +‎ -ene; a name trademarked in 1854.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈkɛɹəsiːn/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)

Noun

kerosene (countable and uncountable, plural kerosenes)

  1. A thin colorless, blue- or 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.
    Synonym: paraffin (UK)
    The kerosene lasted all winter, so the furnace kept us always warm.
    • 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.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

Portuguese

Noun

kerosene m (plural kerosenes)

  1. Obsolete spelling of querosene

Spanish

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /keɾoˈsene/ [ke.ɾoˈse.ne]
  • Rhymes: -ene
  • Syllabification: ke‧ro‧se‧ne

Noun

kerosene m (plural kerosenes)

  1. kerosene

Further reading
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