alcohol

B1 Topic:Food & Drink

US /ˈæl.kə.hɔl/ UK /ˈæl.kə.hɒl/ See IPA manual

Freq #2558

Meanings

1

noun
Drinks such as beer, wine, and spirits that can make you drunk.

The new law bans selling alcohol to anyone under eighteen.
2

noun
A clear liquid chemical used in drinks, cleaning, and medicine.

The nurse cleaned the wound with alcohol.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · drinks such as beer, wine,... liquor booze

2 noun · a clear liquid chemical... ethanol

Word family

Forms alcohols

Derived forms alcohol-freealcoholaemiaalcoholasealcoholatealcoholic alcoholicityalcoholidayalcoholismalcoholizationalcoholizealcohollessalcoholly

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

alcohol abuse
harmful or excessive consumption of alcoholic drinks

Noun + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

Alcohol and driving don't mix

Simplified etymology

Alcohol entered English in the mid-16th century from Arabic al-kuḥl, which originally referred to kohl; kohl comes from the same root.

Etymology

Etymology tree Akkadian 𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)bor. Aramaic כוחלא (kuḥlā)bor. Arabic كُحْل (kuḥl) Andalusian Arabic اَلْكُحُول (al-kuḥūl)bor. Medieval Latin alcoholder. Middle English alcofol English alcohol First attested in the 15th century 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…

ك ح ل Arabic alcofol Middle English alcohol Spanish كحل Arabic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Food & Drink Chemistry

External links

# alcohol

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈæl.kə.hɔl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈæl.kə.hɒl/
**Frequency rank:** 2558

## Meanings
1. Drinks such as beer, wine, and spirits that can make you drunk.
2. A clear liquid chemical used in drinks, cleaning, and medicine.

## Examples
- The new law bans selling alcohol to anyone under eighteen.
- The nurse cleaned the wound with alcohol.

## Derived Forms
- alcohol-free
- alcoholaemia
- alcoholase
- alcoholate
- alcoholic
- alcoholicity
- alcoholiday
- alcoholism
- alcoholization
- alcoholize
- alcoholless
- alcoholly

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ك ح ل
- Root: alcofol
- Root: alcohol
- Root: كحل

## Etymology
Etymology tree Akkadian 𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)bor. Aramaic כוחלא (kuḥlā)bor. Arabic كُحْل (kuḥl) Andalusian Arabic اَلْكُحُول (al-kuḥūl)bor. Medieval Latin alcoholder. Middle English alcofol English alcohol First attested in the 15th century 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…

## AI Etymology
Alcohol is first attested in the 15th century 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) The historical line also includes Arabic ك ح ل and Arabic كحل.

## Topics
- Food & Drink
- Chemistry

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