coal
pronunciation
How to pronounce coal in British English:
UK [kəʊl]
How to pronounce coal in American English:
US [koʊl]
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- Noun:
- fossil fuel consisting of carbonized vegetable matter deposited in the Carboniferous period
- a hot glowing or smouldering fragment of wood or coal left from a fire
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- Verb:
- burn to charcoal
- supply with coal
- take in coal
Word Origin
- coal
- coal: [OE] In Old English, col meant ‘glowing ember’. It came from a prehistoric Germanic *kolam (source also of German kohle and Dutch kool), which may be related to Irish Gaelic gual ‘coal’. By the 12th century at the latest it was also being used for ‘charcoal’ (the word charcoal is based on it), but it was not until the mid 13th century that the modern application to the black solid fossil fuel appears.It seems quite likely that the word’s underlying etymological meaning is ‘glow’. Derived from coal are collier [14], which originally meant ‘charcoal-burner’, colliery [17], and possibly collie [17], on the basis of its dark colour.=> charcoal, collier
- coal (n.)
- Old English col "charcoal, live coal," from Proto-Germanic *kula(n) (cognates: Old Frisian kole, Middle Dutch cole, Dutch kool, Old High German chol, German Kohle, Old Norse kol), from PIE root *g(e)u-lo- "live coal" (cognates: Irish gual "coal"). Meaning "mineral consisting of fossilized carbon" is from mid-13c. First mentioned (370 B.C.E.) by Theophrastus in his treatise "On Stones" under the name lithos anthrakos (see anthrax). Traditionally good luck, coal was given as a New Year's gift in England, said to guarantee a warm hearth for the coming year. The phrase drag (or rake) over the coals was a reference to the treatment meted out to heretics by Christians. To carry coals "do dirty work," also "submit to insult" is from 1520s. To carry coals to Newcastle (c. 1600) Anglicizes Greek glauk eis Athenas "owls to Athens."
Example
- 1. But iron ore and coal prices remain firm .
- 2. What energy sources could be substitutes for coal ?
- 3. Replace coal with gas and such cooling is lost .
- 4. But prime minister kan may still get a lump of coal for the holidays .
- 5. High coal prices are also causing problems .