English Online Dictionary. What means fuel? What does fuel mean?
English
Etymology
From Middle English fewell, from Old French fouaille, feuaille (“firewood, kindling”), from feu (“fire”), from Late Latin focus (“fire”), from Latin focus (“hearth”). Cognate with Spanish fuego (“fire”), and Portuguese fogo (“fire”). Doublet of focus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈfjuːəl/, /ˈfjuːl/
- (US) IPA(key): [ˈfjuwəɫ] (some speakers)
- Rhymes: -uːəl, -uːl
Noun
fuel (countable and uncountable, plural fuels)
- Substance consumed to provide energy through combustion, or through chemical or nuclear reaction.
- Substance that provides nourishment for a living organism; food.
- (figuratively) Something that stimulates, encourages or maintains an action.
Derived terms
Translations
Verb
fuel (third-person singular simple present fuels, present participle (US) fueling or fuelling, simple past and past participle (US) fueled or fuelled)
- (transitive) To provide with fuel.
- (transitive) To exacerbate, to cause to grow or become greater.
Usage notes
- Fuelled and fuelling are Commonwealth spellings. Fueled and fueling are US spellings and common in Canada.
Derived terms
- refuel
Translations
Anagrams
- flue, fule
French
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English fuel, itself from Old French fouaille.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fjul/
Noun
fuel m (plural fuels)
- alternative form of fioul
Further reading
- “fuel”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle English
Noun
fuel
- alternative form of fewell
Spanish
Etymology
Borrowed from English fuel.
Noun
fuel m (plural fueles)
- fuel oil
Further reading
- “fuel”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10