alcohol

See also: álcohol

English

Etymology

Ultimately from an Arabic term which first entered European alchemical jargon, and then entered general use. It reached English in the 1500s via Old Spanish and/or Old French alcohol (modern French alcool).

Since at least the 1600s,[1] some authorities have suggested اَلْكُحْل‎ (al-kuḥl, “kohl”) as the Arabic etymon; this suggestion is found for example in Webster's Third New International Dictionary.

Other authorities, including Rachel Hajar, suggest that the ultimate etymon was the classical Arabic term اَلْغَوْل‎ (al-ḡawl) or غَوْل‎ (ḡawl, “bad effect, evil result of headache”) (as used in Qur’an verse 37:47 (Arabic), which refers to drink in which there is no "ghawl").[2][3]

Various old etymological theories and notes.
  • Bartholomew Traheron in his 1543 translation of John of Vigo introduces the word as a term used by "barbarous" (Moorish) authors for "fine powder": the barbarous auctours use alcohol, or (as I fynde it sometymes wryten) alcofoll, for moost fine poudre.
  • William Johnson in his 1657 Lexicon Chymicum glosses the word as antimonium sive stibium. By extension, the word came to refer to any fluid obtained by distillation, including "alcohol of wine", the distilled essence of wine.
  • Libavius in Alchymia (1594) has vini alcohol vel vinum alcalisatum.
  • Johnson (1657) glosses alcohol vini as quando omnis superfluitas vini a vino separatur, ita ut accensum ardeat donec totum consumatur, nihilque fæcum aut phlegmatis in fundo remaneat.

The word's meaning became restricted to "spirit of wine" (ethanol) in the 18th century, then was extended to the entire family of substances which are now called "alcohol" in modern chemistry after 1850.

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈæl.kə.hɒl/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈæl.kə.hɔl/, /ˈæl.kə.hɑl/
  • (US, nonstandard) IPA(key): /ˈɑl.kə.hɔl/, /ˈɑl.kə.hɑl/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Audio (UK)(file)

Noun

alcohol (countable and uncountable, plural alcohols)

An assortment of alcoholic beverages
  1. (organic chemistry, countable) Any of a class of organic compounds (such as ethanol) containing a hydroxyl functional group (-OH).
  2. (colloquial) Ethanol.
  3. (uncountable) Beverages containing ethanol, collectively.
    • 2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76:
      Risk is everywhere. From tabloid headlines insisting that coffee causes cancer (yesterday, of course, it cured it) to stern government warnings about alcohol and driving, the world is teeming with goblins.
  4. (obsolete) Any very fine powder.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

References
  1. 1672 per the OED
  2. “Etymology of Alcohol”, in (Please provide the title of the work)‎, accessed 31 December 2008, archived from the original on 10 June 2011
  3. Nicolae Sfetcu, Health & Drugs: Disease, Prescription & Medication (2014)

Asturian

Noun

alcohol m (plural alcoholes)

  1. alcohol

Catalan

Pronunciation
  • (Balearic) IPA(key): /əl.koˈɔl/
  • (Central) IPA(key): /əl.kuˈɔl/
  • (Valencian) IPA(key): /al.koˈɔl/

Noun

alcohol m (plural alcohols)

  1. (organic chemistry, countable) alcohol
  2. (uncountable) alcohol

Further reading

Dutch

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin alcohol or Spanish alcohol, of Arabic origin.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈɑl.koːˌɦɔl/
  • audio(file)
  • Hyphenation: al‧co‧hol

Noun

alcohol m (plural alcoholen)

  1. (countable, organic chemistry) alcohol (class of compounds)
  2. (uncountable) alcohol (ethanol specifically)

Hyponyms

Derived terms

French

Noun

alcohol m (plural alcohols)

  1. (rare) Alternative spelling of alcool

Galician

Alternative forms

Noun

alcohol m (plural alcohois)

  1. alcohol

Further reading

Interlingua

Noun

alcohol (uncountable)

  1. alcohol (ethanol)

Latin

Pronunciation

Noun

alcohol n (genitive alcoholis); third declension

  1. alcohol

Inflection

Third declension neuter.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative alcohol alcohola
Genitive alcoholis alcoholum
Dative alcoholī alcoholibus
Accusative alcohol alcohola
Ablative alcohole alcoholibus
Vocative alcohol alcohola

References
  • alcohol in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Old French

Noun

alcohol m (oblique plural alcohous or alcohox or alcohols, nominative singular alcohous or alcohox or alcohols, nominative plural alcohol)

  1. alcohol
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Spanish

Etymology

From Andalusian Arabic [script needed] (kuḥúl), from Arabic اَلْكُحْل‎ (al-kuḥl, “kohl”).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /alkoˈol/
  • IPA(key): /alˈkol/

Noun

alcohol m (plural alcoholes)

  1. alcohol
  2. (mineralogy) galena
  3. (cosmetics) kohl, stibnite

Derived terms

Further reading
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