alcohol

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a liquor or brew containing alcohol as the active agent

   alcohol (or drink) ruined him

2. 2
   noun

   Any of a class of organic compounds (such as ethanol) containing a hydroxyl functional group (-OH).

   Our stomachs and livers have an enzyme known as alcohol dehydrogenase that breaks down ethanol to make it less toxic for our bodies, said Atlanta gastroenterologist Dr. Preston Stewart.

3. 3
   noun

   Beverages containing ethanol, collectively.

   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. 4
   noun

   any of a series of volatile hydroxyl compounds that are made from hydrocarbons by distillation

5. 5
   noun

   Ethanol.

6. 6
   noun

   Any very fine powder.

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…