[eth-uh-nawl, -nol] 
[al-kuh-hawl, -hol] | 1. | Also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, ethanol, fermentation alcohol. a colorless, limpid, volatile, flammable, water-miscible liquid, C2H5OH, having an etherlike odor and pungent, burning taste, the intoxicating principle of fermented liquors, produced by yeast fermentation of certain carbohydrates, as grains, molasses, starch, or sugar, or obtained synthetically by hydration of ethylene or as a by-product of certain hydrocarbon syntheses: used chiefly as a solvent in the extraction of specific substances, in beverages, medicines, organic synthesis, lotions, tonics, colognes, rubbing compounds, as an automobile radiator antifreeze, and as a rocket fuel. Compare denatured alcohol, methyl alcohol. |
| 2. | whiskey, gin, vodka, or any other intoxicating liquor containing this liquid. |
| 3. | Chemistry. any of a class of chemical compounds having the general formula ROH, where R represents an alkyl group and –OH a hydroxyl group, as in methyl alcohol, CH3OH, or ethyl alcohol, C2H5OH. |
| al·co·hol (āl'kə-hôl', -hŏl') n.
[Medieval Latin, fine metallic powder, especially of antimony, from Arabic al-kuḥl : al-, the + kuḥl, powder of antimony; see kḥl in Semitic roots.] Word History: The al- in alcohol may alert some readers to the fact that this is a word of Arabic descent, as is the case with algebra and alkali, al- being the Arabic definite article corresponding to the in English. The origin of -cohol is less obvious, however. Its Arabic ancestor was kuḥl, a fine powder most often made from antimony and used by women to darken their eyelids; in fact, kuḥl has given us the word kohl for such a preparation. Arabic chemists came to use al-kuḥl to mean "any fine powder produced in a number of ways, including the process of heating a substance to a gaseous state and then recooling it." The English word alcohol, derived through Medieval Latin from Arabic, is first recorded in 1543 in this sense. Arabic chemists also used al-kuḥl to refer to other substances such as essences that were obtained by distillation, a sense first found for English alcohol in 1672. One of these distilled essences, known as "alcohol of wine," is the constituent of fermented liquors that causes intoxication. This essence took over the term alcohol for itself, whence it has come to refer to the liquor that contains this essence as well as to a class of chemical compounds such as methanol. |
| eth·a·nol (ěth'ə-nôl', -nōl', -nŏl') n. See alcohol. [ethan(e) + -ol1.] |
alcohol al·co·hol (āl'kə-hôl')
n.
Any of a series of hydroxyl compounds derived from saturated hydrocarbons, including ethanol and methanol.
A colorless, volatile, flammable liquid synthesized or obtained by fermentation of sugars and starches and widely used, either pure or denatured, as a solvent and in drugs. Also called ethanol, ethyl alcohol.
Intoxicating liquor containing alcohol.
ethanol eth·a·nol (ěth'ə-nôl', -nōl')
n.
See alcohol.
alcohol (āl'kə-hôl') Pronunciation Key
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| ethanol (ěth'ə-nôl') Pronunciation Key
An alcohol obtained from the fermentation of sugars and starches or by chemical synthesis. It is the intoxicating ingredient of alcoholic beverages, and is also used as a solvent, in explosives, and as an additive to or replacement for petroleum-based fuels. Also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol. Chemical formula: C2H6O. |
