Crude Oil Is Called That Because It Is Unrefined
Crude means unrefined or offensive. In the oil industry the word is used in its literal sense, not as a criticism.
Crude means raw and unrefined, or rude and offensive. *Crude oil* uses the first sense with complete neutrality: it is petroleum as it comes out of the ground, before refining separates it into petrol, diesel and the rest. No judgement is implied, which surprises people who only meet the word as an insult. The Latin root *crudus* meant raw or bloody, and it also gave *cruel* and *recruit*.
- Unrefined. *Crude oil.*
- Rough and unfinished. *A crude sketch.*
- Offensive. *A crude remark.*
- Crudely — roughly. *Crudely made.*
- Crudity — coarseness. *The crudity of the joke.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Adjective | crude | A crude tool. |
| Adverb | crudely | Crudely built. |
| Noun | crudity | Sheer crudity. |
| Noun | crude | Brent crude. |
| Latin | crudus | Raw. |
- Brent crude rose two dollars.Markets.
- A crude but effective repair.Rough.
- He apologised for the crude joke.Offensive.
The crudus family
- Crude — raw, unrefined
- Cruel — from the same root, through the idea of bloodiness
- Recruit — from a word for fresh growth, ultimately the same root
- Crudités — raw vegetables, borrowed from French
- Ecru — a colour, from French for unbleached
Latin *crudus*, raw, bloody or undigested. English took the word in the 1300s, first in the sense of unripe.
Is crude oil an insult to the oil?
No. Crude simply means unrefined. It is the standard technical term for petroleum as extracted.
Are crude and cruel related?
Yes. Both go back to Latin crudus, raw or bloody, by different routes through French.