From Arabic 'al-kuḥl' (the kohl) — originally a fine antimony powder used as eye cosmetic. Alchemists extended the meaning from 'fine powder' to 'purified essence' to 'distilled spirit'. The word traveled from eyeliner to ethanol through the medieval science of distillation.
A colourless volatile flammable liquid which is produced by the natural fermentation of sugars and is the intoxicating constituent of wine, beer, spirits, and other drinks.
From Medieval Latin 'alcohol', from Arabic 'al-kuḥl' (الكحل), meaning 'the kohl' — a fine metallic powder of antimony sulfide used as eye cosmetic. The word originally referred to any very fine powder produced by sublimation. European alchemists extended the meaning from 'fine powder' to 'fine essence' to 'purified spirit' — the essence produced by distillation. By the 18th century, the chemical meaning had narrowed to the specific compound ethanol. Key roots: al- (ال) (Arabic: "the (definite article)"), kuḥl (كحل) (Arabic: "kohl, antimony powder, eye cosmetic
The Arabic definite article 'al-' is hiding inside dozens of English words: alcohol (al-kuḥl), algebra (al-jabr), algorithm (al-Khwārizmī), alchemy (al-kīmiyā), almanac (al-manākh), admiral (amīr al-), alkali (al-qaly), and even artichoke (al-kharshūf via Spanish). Medieval Europe imported Arabic science wholesale — and kept the Arabic 'the' attached.