Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “glycol” come from?

Glycol derives from English alcohol, which comes from French alcohol, ultimately from Arabic كحل meaning a fine powder used for eye cosmetics, with the suffix -ol denoting an organic compound.

glycol (English): Any aliphatic diol; A thick, colourless liquid,...

Definitions

  1. Any aliphatic diol; A thick, colourless liquid,...

Ancestry of “glycol”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-olAn alcohol or phenol; Indicating an oily...
2EnglishalcoholAny of a class of organic compounds containing a...
3FrenchalcoholAlternative spelling of alcool
4Medieval Latinalcoholpowdered ore of antimony; kohl, collyrium,...
5Arabicكحلantimony; kohl, stibnite; black coloring of the...
6Arabicكُحْلantimony; kohl, stibnite
7Akkadianguḫlum—

Words derived from “glycol”

  • glycolic
  • glycolate
  • polyglycolic
  • thioglycollate
  • phosphoglycolate
  • thioglycolic
  • thiodiglycol
  • polyglycol
  • glycollate
  • glycoluril
  • glycolmethacrylate
  • diglycolic
  • glycoluric
Every word from Akkadian guḫlum →