Oil
Overview
 
An oil is any substance
Chemical substance
In chemistry, a chemical substance is a form of matter that has constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. It cannot be separated into components by physical separation methods, i.e. without breaking chemical bonds. They can be solids, liquids or gases.Chemical substances are...

 that is liquid
Liquid
Liquid is one of the three classical states of matter . Like a gas, a liquid is able to flow and take the shape of a container. Some liquids resist compression, while others can be compressed. Unlike a gas, a liquid does not disperse to fill every space of a container, and maintains a fairly...

 at ambient temperatures
Room temperature
-Comfort levels:The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers has listings for suggested temperatures and air flow rates in different types of buildings and different environmental circumstances. For example, a single office in a building has an occupancy ratio per...

 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
Petrochemistry
Petrochemistry is a branch of chemistry that studies the transformation of crude oil and natural gas into useful products or raw materials. These petrochemicals have become an essential part of the chemical industry today.-Origin of Petroleum:...

 oils, and synthetic oils.
First attested in English 1176, the word oil comes from Old French
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...

 "oile", from Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 "oleum", which in turn comes from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 "ἔλαιον" (elaion), "olive oil, oil" and that from "ἐλαία" (elaia), "olive tree".
Quotations

"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

 
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