óleo vs aceite

Question

Hi all,

OK, while I generally see Aceite used in most places that English would use Oil (except for the industry overall, where I seem to see ¨petróleo¨ a bit more often than petro-whatever in English), I do occasionally see ´óleo´ but have not been able to figure out the context of when one might use óleo instead of aceite. I lean towards in the area of hydraulics, but really can´t quite tell.

Any ideas anyone?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi Roger,

I have only heard "óleo" when referring to oil paintings. Example: Pinturas al óleo. Aceite is used for oil cars (aceites para carros, vehículos, etc.), cooking oils (aceite de oliva, aceite de maíz), baby oil (aceite para bebé), and I bet many others. But, for "óleo" in my experience only for "artistic" paintings that used oil painting to do them.

Happy New Year!

Roger, I meant to say oil for cars... :-) - 00e46f15, Dec 30, 2013

I assumed as much. Thanks! - rogspax, Dec 30, 2013

Answer 2

The word aceite finds its origins in the Arabic term azzayt which was used to convey the notion of "olive juice" or "oil." The term óleo, on the other hand, comes from the Latin root ol?um, a word which, loosely translated, conveys this same idea of "olive juice" or "oil." In it's most basic sense, the term óleo, then, can be used to refer to olive oil. More specifically, it is used to describe certain "Holy anointing oils" (whose base is typically olive oil) that are used in certain Christian sacraments and other religious ceremonies. When one takes into consideration the history and development of Christianity in the Western world (especially in terms of the prominence of the Latin language), it should be of little surprise to find that the Latin rooted variant (óleo) might retain some usage in this context. A few examples might be "los santos óleos," "óleo de los enfermos," "óleo de los Catécumenos," etc.

Aside from this, óleo is also used to refer to oil paintings as Sylyon has already mentioned.

(As an aside, Portuguese also has two words for oil rooted, respectively, in Arabic and Latin; however, in Portuguese, the term óleo is much more commonly used to describe oil in general than is true of Spanish.)

Interesting Observer. I hadn´t learned either of those uses for óleo. So far, in Spanish, I´ve only seen it associated with hydraulic operation, but even that is more often seen with aceite, so I´m still a bi confused. - rogspax, Dec 30, 2013

The theory I´m begging to develop is that the motor, transmission, hydraulic oils themselves are ¨aceite¨ but in a hydraulic system the adjective form may use óleo due to whatever etymology. Would fit with the orignal quote, I think - rogspax, Dec 30, 2013

Answer 3

¿ Que tal ? -¡ El óleo de la amabilidad humana !

How about ? The oil of human kindness !

That should be "El óleo de amabilidad humana". Very odd expression though. - DualG, Dec 30, 2013

Good one. The Parable of the Good Samaritan, kindness and good-will is, El óleo de humanos amabilidad - dennywells, Dec 30, 2013

You have to add "la" in there.... guess where? - chileno, Dec 30, 2013

Hi chileno , how are you mate , did I put it in the right place ? - ray76, Dec 30, 2013

G'day DualG don't know if we have met so owyagoinmate? And thanks for the help. - ray76, Dec 30, 2013

Hi denny old son how are you and thanks for info. - ray76, Dec 30, 2013

Doing well my friend, hope you are too. - dennywells, Dec 30, 2013

Nice phrase Ray. Cheers! - rogspax, Dec 30, 2013