alcohol

/ˈæl.kə.hɒl/

//ˈæl.kə.hɒl// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"alcohol" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“alcohol” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,424. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,424
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of a class of organic compounds (such as ethanol) containing a hydroxyl functional group (-OH).

Corpus desk

Index EN-alcohol · alcohol · English

alcohol · rank #2,424 · 10 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,424
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH wave

Nearest frequency peer: wave (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “alcohol”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “alcohol” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

alcohol vs alcoholic
78% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for alcohol
PropertyValue
Headwordalcohol
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈæl.kə.hɒl/
Letters7
Frequency rank#2,424
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “alcohol”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).alcohollands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “wave” (#2,423), “assembly” (#2,425), “walls” (#2,422). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “alcohol” is #2,424. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around alcohol (IPA /ˈæl.kə.hɒl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,424 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for alcohol, with forms such as "aclohol", "alccohol", and "alchool". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "alcoholic", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Akkadian 𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)bor. Aramaic כוחלא (kuḥlā)bor. Arabic كُحْل (kuḥl) Andalusian Arabic اَلْكُحُول (al-kuḥūl)bor. Medieval Latin alcoholder. Middle English alcofol English alcohol First attested in the 15th century from Middle Englis… The correct English form is alcohol, spelled A-L-C-O-H-O-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of a class of organic compounds (such as ethanol) containing a hydroxyl functional group (-OH).
  2. 2
    Ethanol.
  3. 3
    Beverages containing ethanol, collectively.
  4. 4
    Any very fine powder.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how alcohol appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Our stomachs and livers have an enzyme known as alcohol dehydrogenase that breaks down ethanol to make it less toxic for our bodies, said Atlanta gastroenterologist Dr. Preston Stewart.
  2. Risk is everywhere. From tabloid headlines insisting that coffee causes cancer (yesterday, of course, it cured it) to stern government warnings about alcohol and driving, the world is teeming with goblins.

Etymology

Etymology tree Akkadian 𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)bor. Aramaic כוחלא (kuḥlā)bor. Arabic كُحْل (kuḥl) Andalusian Arabic اَلْكُحُول (al-kuḥūl)bor. Medieval Latin alcoholder. Middle English alcofol English alcohol First attested in the 15th century from Middle English alcofol, from Middle French alcohol or Spanish alcohol, derived from the Medieval Latin rendering alcohol transmitted in medical or alchemical literature of Arabic اَلْكُحْل (al-kuḥl, “kohl”), which in Andalusian Arabic also bore the form كُحُول (kuḥūl), قُحُول (quḥūl); bearing thus the meaning of stibnite first, then generalized in meaning to a powder obtained by triturating a material, then also to liquids obtained by boiling down, and specialized to mean spirit of wine, ethanol, in the 18th century, then the narrow chemical sense after 1850. Doublet of alcool and kohl. Various old etymological notes. * Bartholomew Traheron in his 1543 translation of John of Vigo introduces the word as a term used by "barbarous" (Moorish) authors for "fine powder": the barbarous auctours use alcohol, or (as I fynde it sometymes wryten) alcofoll, for moost fine poudre. * William Johnson in his 1657 Lexicon Chymicum glosses the word as antimonium sive stibium. By extension, the word came to refer to any fluid obtained by distillation, including "alcohol of wine", the distilled essence of wine. * Libavius in Alchymia (1594) has vini alcohol vel vinum alcalisatum. * Johnson (1657) glosses alcohol vini as quando omnis superfluitas vini a vino separatur, ita ut accensum ardeat donec totum consumatur, nihilque fæcum aut phlegmatis in fundo remaneat. * Some authorities, including Rachel Hajar, suggest that the ultimate etymon was the Arabic term اَلْغَوْل (al-ḡawl, “bad effect, evil result of headache”) (as used in Qur’an verse 37:47, but this word is rather poetical and could for topical reasons not have been picked up from Arabic by Medieval writers, and aside from that the relation to stibium is well documented.

Synonyms

alcohol

This word in other languages

alcohol(Español)alcool(Français)Alkohol(Deutsch)álcool(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • aclohol
  • alccohol
  • alchool
  • alcohhol
  • alcohlo
  • alcoholl
  • alcoohl
  • allcohol
  • alochol
  • lacohol

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of alcohol - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

aclohol2alccohol1alchool2alcohhol1alcohlo2alcoholl1alcoohl2allcohol1
Edit distance from "alcohol"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "alcohol"?
"alcohol" is spelled A-L-C-O-H-O-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈæl.kə.hɒl/.
What does "alcohol" mean?
As a noun, "alcohol" means: Any of a class of organic compounds (such as ethanol) containing a hydroxyl functional group (-OH).
What words are commonly confused with "alcohol"?
"alcohol" is commonly confused with "alcoholic". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "alcohol"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "alcohol" is /ˈæl.kə.hɒl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "alcohol"?
Etymology tree Akkadian 𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)bor. Aramaic כוחלא (kuḥlā)bor. Arabic كُحْل (kuḥl) Andalusian Arabic اَلْكُحُول (al-kuḥūl)bor. Medieval Latin alcoholder. Middle English alcofol English alcohol First attested in the 15th century from Mid... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "alcohol", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

capable#2,429cutting#2,435suicide#2,409serving#2,405

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

bright10 variantsbrings10 variantsreferred10 variantsstands10 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list