alcohol

alcohol
\ \ [16] Originally, alcohol was a powder, not a liquid. The word comes from Arabic alkuhul, literally ‘the kohl’ – that is, powdered antimony used as a cosmetic for darkening the eyelids. This was borrowed into English via French or medieval Latin, and retained this ‘powder’ meaning for some centuries (for instance, ‘They put between the eyelids and the eye a certain black powder made of a mineral brought from the kingdom of Fez, and called Alcohol’, George Sandys, Travels 1615). But a change was rapidly taking place: from specifically ‘antimony’, alcohol came to mean any substance obtained by sublimation, and hence ‘quintessence’. Alcohol of wine was thus the ‘quintessence of wine’, produced by distillation or rectification, and by the middle of the 18th century alcohol was being used on its own for the intoxicating ingredient in strong liquor. The more precise chemical definition (a compound with a hydroxyl group bound to a hydrocarbon group) developed in the 19th century.
\ \ Cf.⇒ KOHL

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • alcohol — (Del ár. hisp. kuḥúl, y este del ár. clás. kuḥl). 1. m. Quím. Cada uno de los compuestos orgánicos que contienen el grupo hidroxilo unido a un radical alifático o a alguno de sus derivados. 2. por antonom. alcohol etílico. 3. Bebida que contiene… …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • Alcohol — Al co*hol ([a^]l k[ o]*h[o^]l), n. [Cf. F. alcool, formerly written alcohol, Sp. alcohol alcohol, antimony, galena, OSp. alcofol; all fr. Ar. al kohl a powder of antimony or galena, to paint the eyebrows with. The name was afterwards applied, on… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • alcohol — m. bioquím. Nombre de diversas sustancias orgánicas formadas por carbono, hidrógeno y oxígeno que derivan de los hidrocarburos al ser substituidos uno o varios átomos de hidrógeno por otros tantos hidroxilos (OH). En el organismo, el consumo de… …   Diccionario médico

  • alcohol — sustantivo masculino 1. Líquido de olor fuerte, incoloro e inflamable, que se obtiene de la destilación de ciertas sustancias, azucaradas o feculentas, fermentadas: cuarenta grados de alcohol. alcohol etílico. 2. Bebida que contiene este líquido …   Diccionario Salamanca de la Lengua Española

  • Alcohol 52% — Alcohol 120% Alcohol 120% Développeur Alcohol Software Dernière version 1.9.8.7612/ 27/04/ …   Wikipédia en Français

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  • alcohol — [al′kə hôl΄, al′kəhäl΄] n. [ML, term used by PARACELSUS Philippus Aureolus for fine powder, distilled spirit < Ar alkuḥl, antimony powder, collyrium < al, the + kuḥl, KOHL] 1. a colorless, volatile, pungent liquid, C2H5OH: it can be burned… …   English World dictionary

  • Alcohol — steht für Alcohol 120% Alcohol Creek Siehe auch Alkohol Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zur Unterscheidung mehrerer mit demselben Wort bezeichneter Begriffe …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • alcohol — noun alcoholic beverage, inebriant, intoxicant, intoxicating liquor, liquor, potation, spirits Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 alcohol The act …   Law dictionary

  • alcohol — (n.) 1540s (early 15c. as alcofol), fine powder produced by sublimation, from M.L. alcohol powdered ore of antimony, from Arabic al kuhul kohl, the fine metallic powder used to darken the eyelids, from kahala to stain, paint. The al is the Arabic …   Etymology dictionary

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