coal

Meanings

Noun

• A black rock formed from prehistoric plant remains, composed largely of carbon and burned as a fuel.
• A piece of coal used for burning
• A type of coal, such as bituminous, anthracite, or lignite, and grades and varieties thereof.
• A glowing or charred piece of coal, wood, or other solid fuel.
• Charcoal.

Verb

• To take on a supply of coal (usually of steam ships).
• To supply with coal.
• To be converted to charcoal.
• To burn to charcoal; to char.
• To mark or delineate with charcoal.

Related

Narrower meaning words

• anthracite, bitumen, charcoal, seacoal

Origin

• From Middle English cole, from Old English col, from Proto-West Germanic *kol, from Proto-Germanic *kulą (compare West Frisian koal, Dutch kool, German Kohle, Danish kul), from *ǵwelH-.
• Compare Old Irish gúal ("coal"), Lithuanian žvìlti ("to twinkle, glow"), Persian زغال ("live coal"), Sanskrit ज्वल् ("to burn, glow"), Tocharian B śoliye ("hearth"), all from the same root.