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 a powder obtained by triturating a material, then also to liquids obtained by boiling down, and specialized to mean spirit of wine, ethanol, in the 18th century, then the narrow chemical sense after 1850. Doublet of alcool and kohl.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈæl.kə.hɒl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈæl.kə.hɔl/, /ˈæl.kə.hɑl/
  • (US, nonstandard) IPA^(key): /ˈɑl.kə.hɔl/, /ˈɑl.kə.hɑl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• (Indic) IPA^(key): /ˈal.kɵ.hɔl/, /ˈɑl.kɵ.hɔl/, /əl.kɵˈhɔl/, /æl.kɔː.ɦɔːl/, /əl.kʊ.ɦʊl/
• Hyphenation: al‧co‧hol

alcohol (countable and uncountable, plural alcohols)

2. (organic chemistry, countable) Any of a class of organic compounds (such as ethanol) containing a hydroxyl functional group (-OH).
3. (pharmacology, colloquial) Ethanol.
   • 2012 September 26, Jacque Wilson, “Experts: Alcohol enemas ‘extremely dangerous’”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     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.

4. (uncountable) Beverages containing ethanol, collectively.
   • 2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist‎^[3], volume 407, number 8841, archived from the original on 24 August 2019, page 76:

     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.

5. (obsolete) Any very fine powder.

• See also Thesaurus:alcoholic beverage

• → Arabic: كُحُول (kuḥūl)
• → Korean: 알코올 (alkool), 알콜 (alkol)
• → Malay: alkohol
• → Swahili: alkoholi
• → Tok Pisin: alkohol

alcohol m (plural alcoholes)

1. alcohol

• IPA^(key): (Central) [əl.kuˈɔl]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [əl.koˈɔl]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [al.koˈɔl]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

alcohol m (plural alcohols)

1. (organic chemistry, countable) alcohol
2. (uncountable) alcohol

• alcohòlic
• alcoholisme

• “alcohol”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

• alkohol (superseded)

Borrowed from Latin alcohol or Spanish alcohol, of Arabic origin.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑl.koːˌɦɔl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: al‧co‧hol

alcohol m (plural alcoholen, no diminutive)

1. (countable, organic chemistry) alcohol (class of compounds)
2. (uncountable) alcohol (ethanol specifically)

   De suikers worden omgezet in alcohol. ― The sugars are converted into alcohol.

3. (uncountable) alcoholic beverages, collectively

   Synonym: drank

   Hyponym: sterke drank

   Hij zit iets te vaak aan de alcohol. ― He drinks alcoholic beverages a bit too often.

• -ol

• Afrikaans: alkohol
• → Indonesian: alkohol
• → Japanese: アルコール (arukōru)
  • → Pohnpeian: ahrkohl

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

alcohol m (plural alcohols)

1. (rare) alternative spelling of alcool

• alcol
• álcool (reintegrationist)

alcohol m (plural alcohois)

1. alcohol

• alcohólico
• alcoholismo

• “alcohol”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

alcohol (uncountable)

1. alcohol (ethanol)

• alcoholic

From Andalusian Arabic اَلْكُحُول (al-kuḥūl), اَلْقُحُول (al-quḥūl), earlier اَلْكُحْل (al-kuḥl, “kohl”).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈaɫ.ko.(ɦ)ɔɫ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈal.ko.ol]

alcohol n (genitive alcohōlis); third declension

1. (Medieval Latin) kohl, collyrium, stibium
2. (Medieval Latin) any other powder obtained from triturating a material

   alcohol ferrī ― rubbed file dust of iron

3. (Medieval Latin) distilled essence, spirit
4. (Medieval Latin) alcohol

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

• alcoholicus

• alcohol in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[4], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

alcohol oblique singular, m (oblique plural alcohous or alcohox or alcohols, nominative singular alcohous or alcohox or alcohols, nominative plural alcohol)

1. alcohol

• Middle French: alcohol
  • French: alcool, alcohol (obsolete)
    • Haitian Creole: alkòl
    • Mauritian Creole: lalkol
    • Seychellois Creole: lalkol
    • → English: alcool
    • → Khmer: អាកុល (ʼaakol)
    • → Malagasy: alkola
    • →? Norman: alcool
    • → Romanian: alcool
    • → Ottoman Turkish: آلقول (alkol)
    • → Turkish: alkol
    • → Persian: الکل (alkol)
    • → Vietnamese: ancol, cồn
  • → Middle English: alcofol
    • English: alcohol
      • → Arabic: كُحُول (kuḥūl)
      • → Korean: 알코올 (alkool), 알콜 (alkol)
      • → Malay: alkohol
      • → Swahili: alkoholi
      • → Tok Pisin: alkohol

alcohol m (countable and uncountable, plural alcohoes)

1. (rare) pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of álcool
   • 1910 January 5, “EMULSÃO DE SCOTT”, in A Republica, volume XXIV, number 3, Curitiba, page 3, column 4:

     não contem alcohol, guaiacol, creosota nem nenhuma substancia nociva ou irritante.

     Does not contain alcohol, guaiacol, creosote or any nocive or irritating substance.

   • 1937 July 24, “III Congresso Sul-Americano de Chimica: Theses Apresentadas [III South-American Congress of Chemistry: Presented Theses]”, in Jornal do Commercio, volume 110, number 250, Rio de Janeiro, page 7:

     5 — Freire, Affonso de Castilho — Determinação do kerosene nos alcohoes desnaturados.

     5 — Freire, Affonso de Castilho — Determination of kerosene in denatured alcohols.

The spelling alcool was far more common.

alcohol m (plural alcoholi)

1. obsolete form of alcool

• alcohol in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

Inherited from Old Spanish alcofol, alcofor, alcohol (c. 1200), from Andalusian Arabic اَلْكُحُول (al-kuḥū́l), from Arabic اَلْكُحْل (al-kuḥl, “kohl”).

• IPA^(key): (common) /alˈkol/ [alˈkol]

  • Audio (Colombia):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -ol
• IPA^(key): (careful speech) /alkoˈol/ [al.koˈol]
  • Rhymes: -ol
• Syllabification: al‧co‧hol

alcohol m (plural alcoholes)

1. alcohol
2. (mineralogy) galena
3. (cosmetics) kohl, stibnite

• → Basque: alkohol
• → Quechua: alkul

• “alcohol”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

From English alcohol, from Middle French alcohol or Spanish alcohol, from the Medieval Latin rendering alcohol of Arabic اَلْكُحْل (al-kuḥl, “kohl”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈalkɔhɔl/

alcohol m (plural alcoholau)

1. (alcoholic beverages) alcohol

   Synonym: gwirf

• alcoholig, alcoholaidd (“alcoholic”)
• alcoholiaeth (“alcoholism”)
• dialcohol (“alcohol-free”)

• diod gadarn (“strong drink”)

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “alcohol”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies