ˈalkəˌhȯl, ˈau̇k- sometimes -ˌhäl noun
( -s )
Etymology: New Latin & Medieval Latin; New Latin, liquid produced by distillation, from Medieval Latin, finely pulverized antimony used by women to darken the eyelids, from Old Spanish, from Arabic al-kuḥul, al-kuḥl the powdered antimony
1. obsolete : a fine powder of varying ingredients ; often : kohl
2. obsolete : the essence or spirit obtained by distillation
3. : a colorless volatile flammable liquid C 2 H 5 OH formed by vinous fermentation and contained in wine, beer, whiskey, and the other fermented and distilled liquors of which it is the intoxicating principle, that is manufactured principally by fermentation of carbohydrate materials (as blackstrap molasses, various grains, especially corn, and potatoes) and by hydration of ethylene, being obtained usually by fractional distillation in a concentration of about 95 percent with about 5 percent water, and that in addition to its use in beverages and in medicines is used chiefly as a solvent (as for fats, oils, and resins), as an antifreeze, as a fuel (as for internal-combustion engines and rockets and for heating on a small scale), and as a raw material for many organic chemicals (as acetaldehyde, butadiene, ethers, and esters) — called also ethanol, ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol ; see industrial alcohol
4. : any of a class of compounds analogous to ethyl alcohol in constitution and regarded as hydroxyl derivatives of hydrocarbons, being classed according to the number of hydroxyl groups (as monohydric, dihydric, trihydric, polyhydric) or according to structure — see glycol 2, primary alcohol , secondary alcohol , tertiary alcohol ; compare phenol
5. : liquor (as whiskey) containing alcohol