coal

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A hard black rock that is burned as fuel for heat and energy.

   The factory still burns coal to generate electricity.

2. 2
   noun

   A glowing or burnt piece of coal or wood in a fire.

   We cooked the meat over the hot coals.

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Simplified etymology

Coal comes from Old English col, which meant “a glowing ember” rather than the combustible substance itself.

From Middle English cole, from Old English col, from Proto-West Germanic *kol, from Proto-Germanic *kulą, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵwelH- (“to burn, shine”). Cognate with West Frisian koal (“coal”), Cimbrian kholl (“coal”), Dutch kool (“coal; carbon”), German Kohle (“coal”), Luxembourgish Kuel (“coal”), Vilamovian köła (“coal”), Yiddish קויל (koyl, “coal”), Danish kul (“coal”), Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Swedish kol (“coal; carbon”), Jamtish kuł (“coal; carbon”). Compare Middle Irish gúal (“coal”), Lithuanian žvi̇̀lti (“to twinkle, glow”), Persian زغال (zoġâl, “l…

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary