alcool

Pronunciation

• IPA: /al.kɔl/^[1]

Forms

alcool m (plural alcools)^[1] Earlier alcohol (1586) and alkol (1612); the Académie dropped the etymological ⟨h⟩ in its sixth edition.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin alcohol, a word of the alchemists, itself from Arabic الكحل (al-kuḥl, “powdered antimony, kohl”), made of the Arabic article and the noun كحل (kuḥl).^[2][4][5][1] The same Arabic noun gave French khôl.^[2][6] Larousse names Spanish alcohol as the intermediary.^[7]

In old pharmacy the word passed from antimony powder to any finely ground and refined substance, then to a distilled liquid, an innovation usually credited to Paracelsus in the early 16th century.^[4][8] Littré also reports a rival explanation from an Arabic verb meaning “to roast”, but judged the derivation from the word for fine powder the true one.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ambroise Paré (1586) presents alcohol as an Arabic word for a powder of antimony used in eye remedies: que les Arabes disent comme alcohol.^[2][3][9]

Semantic evolution

In the alchemists' Latin the word came to mean any powder obtained by grinding and sublimation; by analogy vini alcohol (1594) was the “spirit” of wine, the essence obtained by distilling it.^[2] This sense, recorded in French in 1612, prevailed over the first in the 17th century, and Thomas Corneille's dictionary has alkool in 1694.^[2][9] The word remained rare and learned; by the 18th century only “spirit of wine” was in use, though the Encyclopédie (1757) still recalls the old sense of powder.^[2]

It became an everyday word in the early 19th century, supported by derivatives such as alcoolique (1789), alcooliser (1620) and alcoolisme (1852).^[2][4] In chemistry it was extended to a whole class of compounds similar to ethyl alcohol, and in ordinary use to any strong distilled drink.^[3][8]

Timeline

• 1586 – Alcohol in Ambroise Paré, for powdered antimony.^[2][9]
• 1594 – Latin vini alcohol, the spirit of wine.^[2]
• 1612 – The modern sense “distilled spirit” in French.^[9][2]
• 1694 – Alkool in Thomas Corneille's dictionary.^[2]
• 1762 – Alcool de vin.^[2]
• 1789 – The derivative alcoolique.^[4]
• 1852 – Alcoolisme.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A colourless, volatile, flammable liquid obtained by distillation of wine and other fermented liquids; ethanol.^[6][8]
2. This liquid used in industry, medicine or the home: alcool à 90°, alcool à brûler.^[8][6]
3. (chemistry) Any compound of a class whose properties resemble those of ethyl alcohol.^[8][7]
4. A strong alcoholic drink, a spirit: un alcool de fruit.^[10][7]
5. Alcoholic drink in general: les ravages de l'alcool.^[7]

Word family

• alcoolique
• alcoolisé
• alcoolisme
• alcoologue
• alcoolat
• alcooliser

Related words

• khôl
• English alcohol

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 19, 98a
6. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
8. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)