Petrol and gasoline name exactly the same fuel, a liquid refined from petroleum that powers most car engines; the split is entirely regional. British English says petrol, American English says gasoline, often shortened to gas. A quick way to remember it: petrol shares its root with petroleum, while gasoline shares its root with gas, matching the word Americans use day to day at the pump.
The core difference
Petrol and gasoline are the same fuel; petrol is the British word and gasoline is the American word, commonly shortened to gas.
- petrol — the British word for the refined fuel used in most car engines: We stopped to fill the tank with petrol before the motorway.
- gasoline — the American word for the same fuel: The tank holds about twelve gallons of gasoline.
How to tell them apart
There is no chemical or practical difference between the two; a British driver filling up with petrol is pumping the same fuel as an American driver filling up with gasoline. The choice of word simply marks which side of the Atlantic the speaker is from. Petrol stations in the UK sell petrol; gas stations in the US sell gasoline, almost always shortened in conversation to just gas.
Because American film and television are so widely watched, gasoline and gas are familiar in Britain too, but petrol remains the word British drivers, road signs and news reports actually use, so it is the safer choice for a UK audience.
