First attested in the 15th century fromMiddle Englishalcofol, fromMiddle Frenchalcohol orSpanishalcohol, derived from theMedieval Latin renderingalcohol transmitted in medical or alchemical literature ofArabicاَلْكُحْل(al-kuḥl,“kohl”), which inAndalusian Arabic also bore the formكُحُول(kuḥūl),قُحُول(quḥūl); bearing thus the meaning ofstibnite 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 ofalcool andkohl.
Various old etymological notes.
Bartholomew Traheron in his 1543 translation of John of Vigo introduces the word as a term used by "barbarous" (Moorish) authors for "fine powder":the barbarous auctours use alcohol, or (as I fynde it sometymes wryten) alcofoll, for moost fine poudre.
William Johnson in his 1657 Lexicon Chymicum glosses the word asantimonium sive stibium. By extension, the word came to refer to any fluid obtained by distillation, including "alcohol of wine", the distilled essence of wine.
Libavius in Alchymia (1594) hasvini alcohol vel vinum alcalisatum.
Johnson (1657) glosses alcoholvini as quando omnis superfluitas vini a vino separatur, ita ut accensum ardeat donec totum consumatur, nihilque fæcum aut phlegmatis in fundo remaneat.
Some authorities, including Rachel Hajar, suggest that the ultimate etymon was theArabic termاَلْغَوْل(al-ḡawl,“bad effect, evil result of headache”) (as used in Qur’an verse37:47, but this word is rather poetical and could for topical reasons not have been picked up from Arabic by Medieval writers, and aside from that the relation to stibium is well documented.[1][2]
Our stomachs and livers have an enzyme known asalcohol dehydrogenase that breaks down ethanol to make it less toxic for our bodies, said Atlanta gastroenterologist Dr. Preston Stewart.
Risk is everywhere. From tabloid headlines insisting that coffee causes cancer (yesterday, of course, it cured it) to stern government warnings aboutalcohol and driving, the world is teeming with goblins.
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^“Etymology of Alcohol”, in(Please provide the book title or journal name)[1], 31 December 2008 (last accessed), archived fromthe original on10 June 2011
alcohol inRamminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)),Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700[4], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
1910 January 5, “EMULSÃO DE SCOTT”, inA Republica, volume XXIV, number 3, Curitiba,page 3, column 4:
não contemalcohol, guaiacol, creosota nem nenhuma substancia nociva ou irritante.
Does not containalcohol, 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]”, inJornal do Commercio, volume110, number250,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.
R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “alcohol”, inGeiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
