cool

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Slightly cold in a pleasant way.

   I like cool weather because it isn't too hot to wear a jacket.

2. 2
   adj

   Very good, fashionable, or impressive.

   That's a really cool jacket you're wearing.

3. 3
   adj

   Calm and in control, especially in a difficult situation.

   I like to think that I'm pretty cool in stressful times.

4. 4
   verb

   To become or make something less hot.

   The air cooled considerably after the thunderstorm.

5. 5
   verb

   To become less strong or intense.

   Our enthusiasm cooled considerably after the bad news.

Multiword verbs with cool

• cool off Phrasal verb A1

  to become calmer after feeling angry or agitated

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Cool is an Old English word related to cold. By the 1880s, Black Americans were using it to mean “excellent, pleasing” and “stylish.” It became more widely known in the 1940s through its association with jazz musicians whose style was restrained and relaxed. After declining in popularity for a time, it regained its place as a general term of approval.

From Middle English colen, from Old English cōlian (“to cool, grow cold, be cold”), from Proto-West Germanic *kōlēn (“to become cold”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to freeze”). Cognate with Dutch koelen (“to cool”), German kühlen (“to cool”), Swedish kyla (“to cool, refrigerate”). Also partially from Middle English kelen, from Old English cēlan (“to cool, be cold, become cold”), from Proto-West Germanic *kōlijan, from Proto-Germanic *kōlijaną (“to cool”), altered to resemble the adjective cool. See keel.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary