alcohol

B1 Topic:Food & Drink
US /ˈæl.kə.hɔl/ UK /ˈæl.kə.hɒl/
noun Freq #2558

Meanings

  1. 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. 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,... liquorbooze
2 noun · a clear liquid chemical... ethanol
Word family
Forms alcohols
Derived forms alcohol-freealcoholaemiaalcoholasealcoholatealcoholicalcoholicityalcoholidayalcoholismalcoholizationalcoholizealcohollessalcoholly

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…

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