×
FREE ASSISTANCE FOR THE INQUISITIVE PEOPLE
Tutorial Topics
X
softetechnologies
Origin of the Word Blockbuster Origin of the word Boycott
Origin of the Word Alcohol - Little Surprise
3382    Dibyendu Banerjee    14/07/2017

Origin of the Word Alcohol 

Sometimes the origin of a particular word seems to be a surprising revelation. It seems to be an enigma, how ‘kohl’ is related to alcohol. 

In ancient time, possibly the Arabs or the Egyptians used to make their eye cosmetic, a distinctive jet-black eyeshadow, by grinding Stibnite, the sulphide of antimony. The fine metallic powder of Stibnite was then heated and mixed with animal grease to make a cosmetic paste. They named the paste as al-kohl, where the ‘al’

softetechnologies

denotes the Arabic definite article, "the.” In fact, the term al-kohl is derived from an ancient Arabic name meaning “the stain” or “the paint”.

Cleopatra With Kohl
Cleopatra With Kohl

Since the Protodynastic Period of Egypt (CA. 3100 BCE) Kohl has been worn traditionally by the Egyptian queens and noble women and the cosmetic pallets used for its preparation assumed a prominent role in the late Predynastic Egyptian culture.

Hex Color Code
Kohl Container inscribed for Queen Tiye (1410-1372 BCE)

During the Middle Ages, the Alchemists and Scientists of Europe picked up this term from their Arabic-origin textbooks and began to apply it to all kinds of other substances that could be produced through similar means,

softetechnologies

which included the process of distillation. Gradually, the meaning of alcohol was extended to distilled substances in general and then narrowed to ethanol, when "spirits" as a synonym for hard liquor.

Origin of the Word Blockbuster Origin of the word Boycott
softetechnologies
Author Details
Dibyendu Banerjee
Ex student of Scottish Church College. Served a Nationalised Bank for nearly 35 years. Authored novels in Bengali. Translated into Bengali novels/short stories of Leo Tolstoy, Eric Maria Remarque, D.H.Lawrence, Harold Robbins, Guy de Maupassant, Somerset Maugham and others. Also compiled collections of short stories from Africa and Third World. Interested in literature, history, music, sports and international films.
Enter New Comment
Comment History
No Comment Found Yet.
Sri Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
The world is needed a mixture of truth and make-believe. Discard the make-believe and take the truth.
Sri Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
1716
57.18
Today So Far
Total View (Lakh)
softetechnologies
26/05/2018     43517
01/01/2018     36472
25/06/2018     35466
28/06/2017     34546
02/08/2017     32968
01/08/2017     27455
06/07/2017     27200
15/05/2017     26835
14/07/2017     22453
21/04/2018     21105
softetechnologies