alcool French · revision 17692

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1586, Ambroise Paré|origins=ar كحل}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /al.kɔl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''alcool''' ''m'' (plural alcools)^(Wiktionary)

+ Earlier ''alcohol'' (1586) and ''alkol'' (1612); the Académie dropped the etymological ⟨h⟩ in its sixth edition.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-new|alcohol]], a word of the alchemists, itself from [[ar|الكحل|tr=al-kuḥl|t=powdered antimony, kohl]], made of the Arabic article and the noun [[m|ar|كحل|tr=kuḥl]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|19, 98a)^(Wiktionary) The same Arabic noun gave French [[khôl]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) Larousse names Spanish [[m|es|alcohol]] as the intermediary.^(Larousse)

+

+ 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.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989) 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.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==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''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==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.^(DHLF 1992) This sense, recorded in French in 1612, prevailed over the first in the 17th century, and Thomas Corneille's dictionary has ''alkool'' in 1694.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) 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.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ It became an everyday word in the early 19th century, supported by derivatives such as [[alcoolique]] (1789), [[alcooliser]] (1620) and [[alcoolisme]] (1852).^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In chemistry it was extended to a whole class of compounds similar to ethyl alcohol, and in ordinary use to any strong distilled drink.^(Littré 1873)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1586 – ''Alcohol'' in Ambroise Paré, for powdered antimony.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1594 – Latin ''vini alcohol'', the spirit of wine.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1612 – The modern sense “distilled spirit” in French.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1694 – ''Alkool'' in Thomas Corneille's dictionary.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1762 – ''Alcool de vin''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1789 – The derivative ''alcoolique''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1852 – ''Alcoolisme''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A colourless, [[m|en|volatile]], flammable liquid obtained by [[m|en|distillation]] of wine and other fermented liquids; [[m|en|ethanol]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # This liquid used in industry, medicine or the home: ''alcool à 90°'', ''alcool à brûler''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(chemistry)'' Any compound of a class whose properties resemble those of ethyl alcohol.^(GLLF 1989)^(Larousse)

+ # A strong alcoholic drink, a [[m|en|spirit]]: ''un alcool de fruit''.^(Le Robert)^(Larousse)

+ # Alcoholic drink in general: ''les ravages de l'alcool''.^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[alcoolique]]

+ * [[alcoolisé]]

+ * [[alcoolisme]]

+ * [[alcoologue]]

+ * [[alcoolat]]

+ * [[alcooliser]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[khôl]]

+ * [[en|alcohol]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}