Added 9 October 2026
coal
/kəʊl/ noun
In Latin: carbō Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about coal at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
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A black or brownish black rock formed from prehistoric plant remains, composed largely of carbon and burned as a fuel.
The coal in this region was prized by ironmasters in centuries past, who mined it in the spots where the drainage methods of the day permitted.
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A type of coal, such as bituminous, anthracite, or lignite, and grades and varieties thereof, as a fuel commodity ready to buy and burn.
Put some coal on the fire.
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A piece of coal used for burning
Put some coals on the fire.
verb
adjective
- Black like coal; coal-black.
Origin
From Middle English col, from Old English col, from Proto-West Germanic *kol, from Proto-Germanic *kulą (“coal”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵwelH- (“to burn, shine”). Cognate with North Frisian kööl (“coal”), Saterland Frisian Koole (“coal”), West Frisian koal (“coal”), Cimbrian kholl (“coal”), Dutch kool (“coal; carbon”), German Kohle (“coal”), Limburgish Kǫe̩l (“coal”), Luxembourgish Kuel (“coal”), Vilamovian köła (“coal”), Yiddish קויל (koyl, “coal”), Danish kul (“coal”), Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish kol (“coal; carbon”), Jamtish kuł (“coal; carbon”), Norwegian Bokmål kol, kull (“coal”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)