alcohol
The definition of alcohol is a liquor that contains ethanol and has the potential to intoxicate drinkers, and it can be burned as fuel.
(noun)Whiskey, vodka, rum and gin are each an example of alcohol.
See alcohol in Webster's New World College Dictionary
noun
- a colorless, volatile, pungent liquid, CHOH: it can be burned as fuel (10-15% of gasohol), is used in industry and medicine, and is the intoxicating element of whiskey, wine, beer, and other fermented or distilled liquors: classed as a depressant drugalso called ethyl alcohol
- any intoxicating liquor with this liquid in it
- the drinking of such liquors: alcohol was his downfall
- a class of organic compounds, including ethyl or methyl (wood) alcohol, that contain one or more hydroxyl groups (OH) and form esters in reactions with acids
Origin: ML, term used by Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus for fine powder, distilled spirit < Ar alkuḥl, antimony powder, collyrium < al, the + kuḥl, kohl
See alcohol in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun
- A colorless volatile flammable liquid, C2H5OH, synthesized or obtained by fermentation of sugars and starches and widely used, either pure or denatured, as a solvent and in drugs, cleaning solutions, explosives, and intoxicating beverages. Also called ethanol, ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol.
- Intoxicating liquor containing alcohol.
- Any of a series of hydroxyl compounds, the simplest of which are derived from saturated hydrocarbons, have the general formula CnH2n+1OH, and include ethanol and methanol.
Origin:
Origin: Medieval Latin, fine metallic powder, especially of antimony
Origin: , from Arabic al-kuḥl
Origin: : al-, the
Origin: + 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.See alcohol in Ologies
Alcohol
See also beer; fermentation; wine.
an addiction to absinthe, a liqueur flavored with the narcotic wormwood, Artemisia absinthium. —absinthial, absinthian, adj.
a voluntary and habitual self-deprivation, especially from alcoholic beverages. —abstinent, adj.
1. an addiction to alcohol, especially involving compulsive, excessive consumption.
2. the pathological effects of such overindulgence. —alcoholic, n.
alcoholomania
an obsession with alcohol.
alcoholphilia
an excessive liking for alcoholic beverages. —alcoholphile, n.
antialcoholism
the state or doctrine of opposition to the excessive consumption of liquor. —antialcoholic, n., adj.
bacchanalianism
1. a devotion to drunken revelry and carousal in honor of Bacchus.
2. a dedication to such behavior on other occasions. —bacchanalian, n., adj.
bibacity
the state of being given to excessive drinking of alcohol. —bibacious, adj.
bibulosity
excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages. —bibulous, adj.
compotation
drinking together, usually to excess.
compotator
a drinking companion.
excessive indulgence in food or drink.
an insatiable craving for alcohol; chronic drunkenness. —dipsomaniac, n. —dipsomaniacal, adj.
dipsophobia
an abnormal fear of drinking. —dipsophobe, n.
a device for measuring the amount of alcohol in the bloodstream, usually from the breath. Also called breathalyzer.
ebriety
intoxication or inebriation, whether regarded as the condition, the process, or the habit.
ebriosity
drunkenness or intoxication from alcohol, especially as a habitual state.
fermentology
a science that deals with ferments and fermentation, especially those concerned with the production of alcoholic beverages. —fermentologist, n.
drunkenness.
the opposite of sobriety; inebriation.
Jocular. an alcoholic beverage.
skill in the mixing of alcoholic drinks. —mixologist, n.
nephalism
an adherence to the tenets of teetotalism. —nephalist, n., adj. —nephalistic, adj.
1. In ancient Greece or Rome. a wild celebration in honor of certain gods.
2. riotous merrymaking, especially with excessive indulgence in sex, alcohol, and drugs. —orgiast, n. —orgiastic, adj.
extreme thirst; an abnormal and continuous craving for drink.
1. excessive drinking of alcohol.
2. an alcoholic drink. See also food and nutrition.
potomania
1. an excessive tendency to drink alcoholic beverages.
2. Also called tromomania. delirium tremens.
prohibitionism
1. the principles governing the forbidding by law of the manufacture or sale of alcoholic beverages.
2. the interdiction itself. —prohibitionist, n. —Prohibition, n.
Rechabite
a member of the Independent Order of Rechabites, a secret society devoted to total abstention from intoxicating liquors, founded in England in 1835.
the principle or conscious practice of complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages. Also called total abstinence. —teetotaler, n.
tromomania
delirium tremens. Also called potomania.
Volsteadism
the theory or practice of prohibitionism; after the Volstead Act, which implemented U.S. prohibition, introduced by Andrew J. Volstead.
a member of the Washingtonian Society, a temperance society founded in the United States in 1843.
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