fuel
[ˈfjuwəɫ]noun, verb
fuel is spelled F-U-E-L: 4 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 52 times per million words in written English, the 1,941st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, fuel means “Substance consumed to provide energy through combustion, or through chemical or nuclear reaction” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of fuel is fuels.
How many letters and syllables are in fuel?
| Letters | 4: F-U-E-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 52 times per million words; the 1,941st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is fuel?
Fuel appears 52 times per million words in written English, the 1,941st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce fuel?
- /ˈfjuːəl/
- /ˈfjuːl/
- US [ˈfjuwəɫ]
Fuel has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-fuel.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with fuel?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as fuel.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: flue.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of fuel
- fuels plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- fueling US, participle, present
- fuelling UK, participle, present
- fueled US, participle, past
- fuelled UK, participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does fuel mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Substance consumed to provide energy through combustion, or through chemical or nuclear reaction.
- 2
Substance that provides nourishment for a living organism; food.
- 3
Something that stimulates, encourages or maintains an action.
His books were fuel for the revolution.
verb
- 1
To provide with fuel.
- 2
To exacerbate, to cause to grow or become greater.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Fuel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | carburant, combustible , alimenter, attiser |
| German | Brennstoff, Treibstoff , anheizen, schüren , betanken |
| Portuguese | combustível , atiçar, incitar , abastecer |
| Spanish | combustible, lumbre , abastecer, repostar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does fuel come from?
From Middle English fuayle, from Old French fouaille, feuaille (“firewood, kindling”), from feu (“fire”), from Late Latin focus (“fire”), from Latin focus (“hearth”), whence English focus. Cognate with Spanish fuego (“fire”), and Portuguese fogo (“fire”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).