How to say "oil" in Japanese

• オイルJLPT N2approx.Common
  nounThe katakana loanword for oil as a liquid, covering motor oil, cooking oil, massage oil and the like; it is the form you typically see in product names and technical contexts.
  新あたらしいオイル・タンカーが進水しんすいした。↗

  A new oil tanker was launched.
• 油あぶらJLPT N3approx.Common
  nounThe general word for oil as a substance: the oil you cook with, machine oil, oil on the skin. For petroleum as a resource, 石油 is the word.
  私の服ふくは油あぶらで汚よごれていた。↗

  My clothes were dirty with oil.
• 石油せきゆJLPT N3approx.Common
  nounPetroleum: crude oil as a resource, fuel and commodity — the 'oil' of oil prices, oil fields and oil-producing countries. Not the word for cooking oil or the oil in an engine.
  この国くにには石油せきゆが乏とぼしい。↗

  Oil is scarce in this country.

For oil as an everyday liquid — cooking, engines, cosmetics — choose between 油 and the katakana loanword 「オイル」, often seen in product names; reserve 石油 for petroleum, crude oil as a resource and fuel.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• オイルoil
• 油あぶらoil
• 石油せきゆoil
• 油を引くあぶらをひくto oil (e.g. a frying pan)
• あんだoil
• 油をさすあぶらをさすto oil (e.g. chains, hinges, etc.)
• 差し油さしあぶら(lubricating) oil
• 引くひくto apply (e.g. lipstick)