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fu·el

(fyəl)

1. Something consumed to produce energy, especially:

a. A material such as wood, coal, gas, or oil burned to produce heat or power.

b. Fissionable material used in a nuclear reactor.

c. Nutritive material metabolized by a living organism; food.

2. Something that maintains or stimulates an activity or emotion: "Money is the fuel of a volunteer organization" (Natalie de Combray).

v. fu·eled, fu·el·ing, fu·els also fu·elled or fu·el·ling

v.tr.

1. To provide with fuel.

2. To support or stimulate the activity or existence of: rhetoric that fueled the dissenters.

v.intr.

To take in fuel.

[Middle English feuel, from Old French fouaille, feuaile, from Vulgar Latin *focālia, neuter pl. of *focālis, of the hearth or fireplace, from Latin focus, hearth, fireplace.]

fuel·er n.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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