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Coal

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coal¹

  • /kəʊl/ UK
  • [kʰɒʊɫ] UK
  • /kɒl/
  • /koʊl/ Canada, US
  • [kʰoɫ] Canada, US
  • /kəʉl/ Australia
  • [kʰɔʊɫ] Australia
  • /kɐʉl/ New Zealand
  • [kʰɵ̞ʊ̯ɫ] New Zealand
  • [kʰäʉ̯ɫ] New Zealand

Sounds like cole, kohl · Rhymes with -əʊl

Where it comes from

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ǵwelH-

Proto-Indo-European *-om

Proto-Indo-European *ǵwl̥Hom

Proto-Indo-European *ǵulHom

Proto-Germanic *kulą

Proto-West Germanic *kol

Old English col

Middle English col

English coal

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”).

Cognates

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”). Compare Irish and Scottish Gaelic gual (“coal”), Manx geayl (“coal”), Lithuanian žvi̇̀lti (“to glow, twinkle”), Persian زکال (zakâl), زکار (zekâr), زغال (zoġâl, “coal”), Tocharian B śoliye (“hearth”), Sanskrit ज्वल् (jval, “to burn, glow”), all from the same root.

noun coals · cole · coale · colle · coole · coell

  1. uncountable 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.
  2. countable 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.
  3. countable A piece of coal used for burning (this use is less common in American English) Put some coals on the fire.
  4. countable A glowing or charred piece of coal, wood, or other solid fuel. hot coals
  5. countable, uncountable Charcoal.
  6. Internet, countable, uncountable Content of low quality. I'm so sick of seeing this coal online.
  7. countable, slang, uncountable Bombs emitting black smoke on impact.
  8. countable, obsolete, slang, uncountable Money.

verb coals · coaling · coaled · cole · coale

  1. intransitive To take on a supply of coal (usually of steam ships or locomotives). 1863, Colonial Secretary to Commander Baldwin, USN shortly after that she coaled again at Simon's Bay; and that after remaining in the neighbourhood of our ports for a time, she proceeded to Mauritius, where she coaled again, and then returned to this colony.
  2. transitive To supply with coal. to coal a steamer
  3. intransitive To be converted to charcoal. After the initial burn the goal of any good fire should be coaling; that is, creating a bed of solid coals that will sustain the fire.
  4. transitive To burn to charcoal; to char. Char-coal of roots, coaled into great pieces.
  5. transitive To mark or delineate with charcoal. […] marvailing, he coaled out these rithms upon the wall near to the picture

adjective coalest · cole · coale · colle · coole · coell

  1. no comparative Black like coal; coal-black. ... his coal hair / the corners of his warm smile / the blue of his gentle eyes. I wanted to explore him as Sir Francis Drake explored the New World. I wanted to tell my secrets to him as a Roman Catholic does in confession.

Coal²

proper noun

  1. An unincorporated community in Henry County, Missouri, United States, named after early settler Stephen Coale.
  2. An unincorporated community and coal town in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States.
  3. Four townships in the United States, in Missouri, Ohio (2), and Pennsylvania, listed under Coal Township.

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