Jump to content
Main menu
Main menu
move to sidebar
hide
Navigation
Main page
Recent changes
Random page
Help about MediaWiki
Special pages
Niidae Wiki
Search
Search
Appearance
Create account
Log in
Personal tools
Create account
Log in
Pages for logged out editors
learn more
Contributions
Talk
Editing
Alcohol (chemistry)
(section)
Page
Discussion
English
Read
Edit
View history
Tools
Tools
move to sidebar
hide
Actions
Read
Edit
View history
General
What links here
Related changes
Page information
Appearance
move to sidebar
hide
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
===Etymology=== The word "alcohol" derives from the Arabic ''[[kohl (cosmetics)|kohl]]'' ({{langx|ar|الكحل|al-kuḥl}}), a powder used as an eyeliner.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=alcohol |title=Alcohol |access-date=17 May 2018 |dictionary=[[Etymonline]] |last=Harper |first=Douglas |author-link=Douglas Harper |publisher=MaoningTech}}</ref> The first part of the word ({{Transliteration|ar|[[al-]]}}) is the Arabic [[Article (grammar)|definite article]], equivalent to ''the'' in English. The second part of the word ({{Transliteration|ar|kuḥl}}) has several antecedents in [[Semitic languages]], ultimately deriving from the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] {{lang|akk|{{cuneiform|6|𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕}}}} ({{Transliteration|akk|guḫlum}}), meaning [[stibnite]] or [[antimony]].<ref>[https://archive.org/details/akkadischefremdw00zimmuoft?view=theater#page/61 Zimmern, Heinrich (1915) Akkadische Fremdwörter als Beweis für babylonischen Kultureinfluss (in German), Leipzig: A. Edelmann, page 61]</ref> Like its antecedents in Arabic and older languages, the term ''alcohol'' was originally used for the very fine powder produced by the [[sublimation (chemistry)|sublimation]] of the natural mineral [[stibnite]] to form [[antimony trisulfide]] {{chem2|Sb2S3}}. It was considered to be the essence or "spirit" of this mineral. It was used as an [[antiseptic]], eyeliner, and [[kohl (cosmetics)|cosmetic]]. Later the meaning of alcohol was extended to distilled substances in general, and then narrowed again to ethanol, when "spirits" was a synonym for [[Distilled beverage|hard liquor]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.vias.org/encyclopedia/Alcohol_004.html |encyclopedia=VIAS Encyclopedia |title=Etymology of the Word "Alcohol" |first=H. |last=Lohninger |date=21 December 2004 |access-date=17 May 2018}}</ref> [[Paracelsus]] and [[Libavius]] both used the term ''alcohol'' to denote a fine powder, the latter speaking of an ''alcohol'' derived from antimony. At the same time Paracelsus uses the word for a volatile liquid; ''alcool'' or ''alcool vini'' occurs often in his writings.<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Alcohol |volume=1 |page=525}}</ref> [[Bartholomew Traheron]], in his 1543 translation of [[John of Vigo]], introduces the word as a term used by "barbarous" authors for "fine powder." Vigo wrote: "the barbarous auctours use alcohol, or (as I fynde it sometymes wryten) alcofoll, for moost fine poudre."<ref name="OED-2016">{{cite encyclopedia |title=alcohol, n. |dictionary=[[OED Online]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=15 November 2016}}</ref> The 1657 ''Lexicon Chymicum'', by William Johnson glosses the word as "antimonium sive stibium."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d645AAAAcAAJ |title=Lexicon Chymicum |last=Johnson |first=William |year=1652}}</ref> By extension, the word came to refer to any fluid obtained by distillation, including "alcohol of wine," the distilled essence of wine. [[Libavius]] in ''Alchymia'' (1594) refers to "{{tooltip|vini alcohol vel vinum alcalisatum|wine alcohol or alkaline wine}}". Johnson (1657) glosses ''alcohol vini'' as "{{tooltip|quando omnis superfluitas vini a vino separatur, ita ut accensum ardeat donec totum consumatur, nihilque fæcum aut phlegmatis in fundo remaneat|when all the excess of the wine is separated from the wine, so that the kindling burns until it is all consumed, and no dregs or phlegm remains at the bottom}}." The word's meaning became restricted to "spirit of wine" (the chemical known today as [[ethanol]]) in the 18th century and was extended to the class of substances so-called as "alcohols" in modern chemistry after 1850.<ref name="OED-2016"/> The term ''ethanol'' was invented in 1892, [[blend word|blending]] "[[ethane]]" with the "-ol" ending of "alcohol", which was generalized as a [[libfix]].<ref>{{cite journal |journal=[[Proc. Chem. Soc.]] |date=8 July 1892 |page=128 |title=Contributions to an international system of nomenclature. The nomenclature of cycloids |first=Henry E. |last=Armstrong |quote=As ol is indicative of an OH derivative, there seems no reason why the simple word acid should not connote carboxyl, and why al should not connote COH; the names ethanol ethanal and ethanoic acid or simply ethane acid would then stand for the OH, COH and COOH derivatives of ethane. |doi=10.1039/PL8920800127 |volume=8 |issue=114 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ax1LAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA128}}</ref> The term ''alcohol'' originally referred to the primary alcohol [[ethanol]] (ethyl alcohol), which is [[alcohol (drug)|used as a drug]] and is the [[Comparison of psychoactive alcohols in alcoholic drinks|main alcohol present in alcoholic drink]]s. [[File:Examples of Nomenclature of Alcohols.jpg|thumb]] The suffix ''-ol'' appears in the [[International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry]] (IUPAC) [[IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry|chemical name]] of all substances where the hydroxyl group is the functional group with the highest priority. When a higher priority group is present in the compound, the prefix ''hydroxy-'' is used in its IUPAC name. The suffix ''-ol'' in non-IUPAC names (such as [[paracetamol]] or [[cholesterol]]) also typically indicates that the substance is an alcohol. However, some compounds that contain hydroxyl functional groups have ''trivial names'' that do not include the suffix ''-ol'' or the prefix ''hydroxy-'', e.g. the sugars [[glucose]] and [[sucrose]].
Summary:
Please note that all contributions to Niidae Wiki may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see
Encyclopedia:Copyrights
for details).
Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Search
Search
Editing
Alcohol (chemistry)
(section)
Add topic