Alcohol: One Word for a Drink, a Chemical Family and a Cleaning Agent
Alcohol means drinks that make you drunk, the specific chemical ethanol in them, and a whole family of related compounds used in medicine and industry.
In ordinary English alcohol means drink: beer, wine, spirits. In chemistry it names a family of compounds with a hydroxyl group attached to carbon, of which the drinkable one is ethanol. Most alcohols are poisonous; exactly one is not.
- Intoxicating drink. *He gave up alcohol in January.*
- Ethanol specifically. *This wine is 13 per cent alcohol.*
- A chemical family. *Isopropyl alcohol cleans the contacts.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | alcohol | Alcohol is served after six. |
| Adjective | alcoholic | An alcoholic drink. |
| Noun (person) | alcoholic | Treatment for alcoholics. |
| Negative | non-alcoholic | A non-alcoholic beer. |
| Noun | alcoholism | Alcoholism is a medical condition. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The bar cannot serve alcohol after midnight.The drink sense.
- Rubbing alcohol evaporates almost instantly.Isopropyl alcohol, not for drinking.
- Alcohol content is shown as ABV on the label.Alcohol by volume.
The word came from powdered eye make-up
From Arabic *al-kuแธฅl*, the fine powder of antimony used as eyeliner. European alchemists borrowed it for any substance refined to its essence, then for the spirit distilled out of wine. The path runs from kohl on the eyelid to whisky in the glass.
Is the alcohol in drinks the same as rubbing alcohol?
No. Drinks contain ethanol. Rubbing alcohol is usually isopropyl alcohol, which is toxic to drink.
What does ABV mean?
Alcohol by volume โ the percentage of the liquid that is pure ethanol.