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]

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

  • See also Thesaurus:alcoholic beverage

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.

References

  1. ↑ 1672 per the OED
  2. ↑ Etymology of Alcohol
  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

Pronunciation

  • audio(file)
  • Hyphenation: al‧co‧hol

Noun

alcohol m (plural alcoholen)

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

Synonyms

  • (beverage): sterke drank

French

Noun

alcohol m (plural alcohols)

  1. (rare) Alternative spelling of alcool

Galician

Alternative forms

Noun

alcohol m (plural alcohois)

  1. alcohol

Further reading

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

Via Andalusian Arabic from Arabic اَلْكُحْل‎ (al-kuḥl, “kohl”)

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /al.koˈol/, /alˈkol/

Noun

alcohol m (plural alcoholes)

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

Further reading

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