oil
/ɔɪl/noun, verb
oil is spelled O-I-L: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 126 times per million words in written English, the 831st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, oil means “Liquid fat” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of oil is oils.
How many letters and syllables are in oil?
| Letters | 3: O-I-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 126 times per million words; the 831st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
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 oil?
Oil appears 126 times per million words in written English, the 831st 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 oil?
- US /ɔɪl/
- US [ˈɔ.jəɫ]
- /ɔl/
Oil has one syllable (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-us-oil.ogg, En-uk-oil.ogg, En-us-south-oil.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with oil
Sounds like: Oi'll (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with oil?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as oil from its last stressed vowel (/ɔɪl/):
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 oil
- oils plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- oiling participle, present
- oiled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does oil mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Liquid fat.
- 2
Petroleum-based liquid used as fuel or lubricant.
- 3
Petroleum.
Oil is found in countries such as Saudi Arabia and is transported all over the world.
- 4
An oil painting.
- 5
Oil paint.
I prefer to paint in oil
verb
- 1
To lubricate with oil.
- 2
To grease with oil for cooking.
- 3
To fuel with oil.
- 4
To say in an unctuous manner.
noun
- 1
Abbreviation of oxygen-iodine laser.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Oil in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | huile , huile végétale , pétrole , huiler |
| German | Öl , Pflanzenöl , Erdöl, Petroleum , ölen, einölen |
| Portuguese | óleo , óleo vegetal , petróleo , olear |
| Spanish | aceite, óleo, saín , aceite vegetal , petróleo , aceitar |
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 oil come from?
From Middle English oyle, oile (“olive oil”), borrowed from Old French oile, from Latin oleum (“oil, olive oil”), from Ancient Greek ἔλαιον (élaion, “olive oil”), from ἐλαία (elaía, “olive”). Compare Proto-Slavic *lojь. More at olive. Doublet of oleum. Supplanted Middle English ele (“oil”), from Old English ele (“oil”), also from Latin.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).