petrodollar
pe·tro·dol·lar/ˈpɛtɹoʊˌdɑlɚ/noun
petrodollar is spelled P-E-T-R-O-D-O-L-L-A-R: 11 letters and 4 syllables (pe·tro·dol·lar). It appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 133,440th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, petrodollar means “Money (either notionally or specifically in dollars or other currencies) earned from the sale of oil, often especially as considered among a national…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of petrodollar is petrodollars.
How many letters and syllables are in petrodollar?
| Letters | 11: P-E-T-R-O-D-O-L-L-A-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: pe·tro·dol·lar |
| In writing | about once in every 19 million words; the 133,440th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is petrodollar?
Petrodollar appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 133,440th 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 petrodollar?
- UK /ˈpɛtɹə(ʊ)ˌdɒlə/
- US /ˈpɛtɹoʊˌdɑlɚ/
Petrodollar has 4 syllables, split pe·tro·dol·lar in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-I_learned_some_phrases-petrodollar.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of petrodollar
- petrodollars plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does petrodollar mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Money (either notionally or specifically in dollars or other currencies) earned from the sale of oil, often especially as considered among a national economy's principal revenue streams.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Petrodollar in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense money (either notionally or specifically in dollars or other currencies) earned :
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pétrodollar |
| German | Petrodollar |
| Portuguese | petrodólar |
| Spanish | petrodólar |
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 petrodollar come from?
From petro- (prefix meaning ‘petroleum; oil export’) + dollar, possibly modelled after Eurodollar.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).