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Extract from Autogeddon - by Heathcote Williams.

OIL.
From the Sanskrit root -il, light, illumination,
And petr, Peter, the rock.
Thus, petrol is―remarkably―light from the rock.

The part about Oil is cute but seems to be made up. Petr is rock, yes, but -il/light/Sanskrit ? Doesn't seem to be true. Is it?

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=oil

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=olive . . . " from Latin . . . from Greek elaia "olive tree, olive," probably from the same Aegean language (perhaps Cretan) as Armenian ewi "oil." "

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=petrol

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    [oil n. ](etymonline.com/index.php?term=oil&allowed_in_frame=0) late 12c., "olive oil," from Anglo-French and Old North French olie, from Old French oile, uile "oil" (12c., Modern French huile), from Latin oleum "oil, olive oil" (source of Spanish, Italian olio), from Greek elaion "olive tree," from elaia (see olive). Old English æle, Dutch olie, German Öl, etc. all are from Latin. It meant "olive oil" exclusively till c. 1300, when meaning began to be extended to any fatty, greasy substance.
    – MikeJRamsey56
    Commented Jul 25, 2017 at 17:37
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    Remainder ... Use for "petroleum" first recorded 1520s, but not common until 19c. The artist's oils (1660s), short for oil-color (1530s), are paints made by grinding pigment in oil.
    – MikeJRamsey56
    Commented Jul 25, 2017 at 17:38
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    I would doubt that -il played any role in "oil," since the early etymons proposed by OED seem not to have that syllable. partly < post-classical Latin olea (perhaps 6th cent.), plural of oleum. Compare Old Occitan oli (late 12th cent.), Italian olio (early 13th cent.; also as †oleo, (now regional) oglio (both end of the 13th cent. or earlier)), Spanish olio (1246), óleo (1396), Catalan oli (1272).
    – RaceYouAnytime
    Commented Jul 25, 2017 at 17:58

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No, there doesn't seem to be any evidence suggesting that oil/petrol/petroleum came from Sanskrit in any way. All three of these words have different etymologies, but are ultimately related to Latin oleum.

Etymology of oil

A simple etymology is given in Oxford Dictionaries:

Middle English: from Old Northern French olie, Old French oile, from Latin oleum ‘(olive) oil’; compare with olea ‘olive.’

OED agrees with this etymology, but is significantly more detailed. For example, it attests to over 100 different spellings of the word over the years! Many of the earlier spellings support the link with French, especially the ones spelled with ui. Others, especially ones that are spelled with eo (e.g. eoli) are thought to be related to Old English ele (which also came from Latin oleum). In any case, there's no evidence that Sanskrit had any part in the etymology.

The freely-available Middle English Dictionary has examples of sentences with a number of the spellings that were found in ME.

Etymology of petroleum

Petroleum comes from Latin petroleum, which is from petra (rock) and oleum (oil). (This etymology can be found in both the OED and Oxford Dictionaries).

Etymology of petrol

According to Oxford Dictionaries, the etymology of petrol is:

Late 19th century: from French pétrole, from medieval Latin petroleum (see petroleum).

Etymology of Latin oleum

According to Wiktionary:

Oleum:

From Ancient Greek ἔλαιον (élaion, “olive oil”).

ἔλαιον:

From Proto-Hellenic *élaiwon, identical to the modern Cypriot form. Compare ἐλαία (elaía, “olive”).

The ἔλαιον root is also supported by this Latin etymology book from 1828.

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  • The Online Etymological Dictionary goes back further: it says Latin oleum "oil, olive oil" is from Greek elaion "olive tree," from elaia … “from Greek elaia "olive tree, olive," probably from the same Aegean language (perhaps Cretan) as Armenian ewi "oil."”
    – ShreevatsaR
    Commented Aug 27, 2017 at 13:19

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