alcohol

See also: álcohol

English

Etymology

Entered in the early 15th c. from Middle English alcofol, from Middle French alcohol or Spanish alcohol, derived from the Medieval Latin rendering alcohol transmitted in medical or alchemical literature of Arabic اَلْكُحْل (al-kuḥl, “kohl”), which in Andalusian Arabic also bore the form كُحُول (kuḥūl), قُحُول (quḥūl); bearing thus the meaning of stibnite first, then generalized in meaning to a powder obtained by triturating a material, then also to liquids obtained by boiling down, and specialized to mean spirit of wine, ethanol, in the 18th century, then the narrow chemical sense after 1850.

Various old etymological 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.
  • Some authorities, including Rachel Hajar, suggest that the ultimate etymon was the Arabic term اَلْغَوْل (al-ḡawl, “bad effect, evil result of headache”) (as used in Qur’an verse 37:47, but this word is rather poetical and could for topical reasons not have been picked up from Arabic by Medieval writers, and aside from that the relation to stibium is well documented.[1][2]

Doublet of alcool and kohl.

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

Descendants
  • → Arabic: كُحُول (kuḥūl)
  • → Korean: 알코올 (alkool), 알콜 (alkol)
  • → Malay: alkohol
  • → Swahili: alkoholi
  • → Tok Pisin: alkohol

Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

References
  1. “Etymology of Alcohol”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎, 2008 December 31 (last accessed), archived from the original on 10 June 2011
  2. Nicolae Sfetcu, Health & Drugs: Disease, Prescription & Medication (2014)

Asturian

Noun

alcohol m (plural alcoholes)

  1. alcohol

Catalan

Pronunciation

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

Descendants

French

Pronunciation
  • Audio(file)

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

Etymology

From Andalusian Arabic اَلْكُحُول (al-kuḥūl), اَلْقُحُول (al-quḥūl), earlier اَلْكُحْل (al-kuḥl, “kohl”). Ultimately from Akkadian.

Pronunciation

Noun

alcohol n (genitive alcoholis); third declension

  1. (Medieval Latin) kohl, collyrium, stibium
  2. (Medieval Latin) any other powder obtained from triturating a material
    alcohol ferrī ― rubbed file dust of iron
  3. (Medieval Latin) distilled essence, spirit
  4. (Medieval Latin) alcohol

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

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

Derived terms

Descendants

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

Old French
This entry has fewer than three known examples of actual usage, the minimum considered necessary for clear attestation, and may not be reliable. Old French is subject to a special exemption for languages with limited documentation. If you speak it, please consider editing this entry or adding citations. See also Help and the Community Portal.

Noun

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

  1. alcohol

Descendants
  • Middle French: alcohol
    • French: alcohol, alcool (see there for further descendants)
    • → Middle English: alcofol
      • English: alcohol (see there for further descendants)

Romanian

Noun

alcohol m (plural alcoholi)

  1. Obsolete form of alcool.

Declension
Declension of alcohol
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) alcohol alcoholul (niște) alcoholi alcoholii
genitive/dative (unui) alcohol alcoholului (unor) alcoholi alcoholilor
vocative alcoholule alcoholilor

References
  • alcohol in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

Spanish

Etymology

From Andalusian Arabic اَلْكُحُول (al-kuḥū́l), from Arabic اَلْكُحْل (al-kuḥl, “kohl”).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): (common) /alˈkol/ [alˈkol]
    • Audio (Colombia):(file)
    • Rhymes: -ol
  • IPA(key): (careful speech) /alkoˈol/ [al.koˈol]
    • Rhymes: -ol
  • Syllabification: al‧co‧hol

Noun

alcohol m (plural alcoholes)

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

Derived terms

Further reading

Welsh

Etymology

From English alcohol, from Middle French alcohol or Spanish alcohol, from the Medieval Latin rendering alcohol of Arabic اَلْكُحْل (al-kuḥl, “kohl”).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈalkɔhɔl/

Noun

alcohol m (plural alcoholau)

  1. (alcoholic beverages) alcohol
    Synonym: gwirf

Derived terms
  • alcoholaidd (“alcoholic”)
  • alcoholig (“alcoholic”)
  • alcoholiaeth (“alcoholism”)
  • dialcohol (“alcohol-free”)
  • heb alcohol (“alcohol-free”)
  • diod feddwol (“intoxicating drink”)
  • diod gadarn (“strong drink”)

Mutation
Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal h-prothesis
alcohol unchanged unchanged halcohol
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References
  • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “alcohol”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
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