that is liquid
at ambient temperatures
and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical
oils, and synthetic oils.
First attested in English 1176, the word oil comes from Old French
"oile", from Latin
"oleum", which in turn comes from the Greek
"ἔλαιον" (elaion), "olive oil, oil" and that from "ἐλαία" (elaia), "olive tree".
"Moses dragged us through the desert for 40 years to bring us to the one place in the Middle East where there was no oil." ~ Golda Meir
"The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun." ~ Ralph Nader
"Overdrafts on aquifers are one reason some of our geologist colleagues are convinced that water shortages will bring the human population explosion to a halt. There are substitutes for oil; there is no substitute for fresh water." ~ Paul R. Ehrlich
"Nobody thinks the United States went to strike against Iraq in order to gain land or water or oil, nobody thinks America has any ambitions about real estate." ~ Shimon Peres
"So when you go up against the Far Right you go up against the big financial special interests like the Halliburtons of the world, the big oil companies, the big energy companies who work so hard to rip us off." ~ Barbara Boxer
"This war has been motivated by pride or arrogance, by a desire to control oil wealth, by a desire to implant our programs." ~ Jimmy Carter
"No young American should be held hostage to America's dependence on oil" ~ John Kerry
"The House okayed the gasoline tax cut, which will increase the deficit, line the pockets of the oil companies, and hurt the environment; Dole said that if there was just some way this could interfere with people's sex lives, it would be perfect legislation." ~ Bill Maher
"This is going to be a very expensive war, and Victory is not guaranteed— for anyone, and certainly not for anyone as baffled as George W. Bush. All he knows is that his father started the war a long time ago, and that he, the goofy child-President, has been chosen by Fate and the global Oil industry to finish it Now." ~ Hunter S. Thompson