Standard Lemma guide

creosote

noun · verb · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈkɹiːəˌsəʊt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ˈkɹiːəˌsoʊt/
  • CMU ARPABET: K R IY1 AH0 S OW2 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A pale yellow oily liquid, containing phenols and similar compounds, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood tar, once used medicinally.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A similar brown liquid obtained from coal tar used as a wood preservative.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The creosote bush.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A flammable black porous brittle glassy byproduct of wood burning, typically formed inside chimneys.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

To apply creosote.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Examples

  • As the fence is exposed he will creosote it for protection.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

a dark oily liquid obtained by distillation of coal tar; used as a preservative for wood

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: coal-tar creosote

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: organic compound

7

noun

Meaning 7

a colorless or yellowish oily liquid obtained by distillation of wood tar; used as an antiseptic

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: organic compound

8

verb

Meaning 8

treat with creosote

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • creosoted wood

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: process, treat

History

Etymology

From German Kreosot in the 1830s, coined in 1832 by German natural philosopher Carl Ludwig, Baron Reichenbach, from Ancient Greek κρέας (kréas, “flesh”) + σωτήρ (sōtḗr, “preserver”) for its use as an antiseptic and meat-preservative. The creosote bush was named after its scent. By surface analysis, containing creo-.

Across languages

Translations

28 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: creosota — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Chinese Mandarin: 木餾油 /木馏油 (mùliúyóu) — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Esperanto: kreozoto — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Finnish: kreosootti — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • French: créosote — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Georgian: კრეოზოტი (ḳreozoṭi) — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • German: Kreosot — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Greek: κρεόζωτο (kreózoto) — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Hungarian: kreozot — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Ido: kreozoto — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Irish: créasóid — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kreosot — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kreosot — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Polish: kreozot — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Russian: креозо́т (kreozót) — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Sanskrit: क्रव्यप (kravyap) — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Spanish: creosota — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Tagalog: kreyosota — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Turkish: katran ruhu — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Turkish: kreozot — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Ottoman Turkish: قطران روحی (katran ruhu) — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Ukrainian: креозо́т (kreozót) — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Welsh: creosot — liquid obtained from wood or tar
  • Catalan: creosotar — to apply creosote
  • French: créosoter — to apply creosote
  • Polish: używać kreozotu — to apply creosote
  • Polish: użyć kreozotu — to apply creosote
  • Spanish: creosotar — to apply creosote