# charcoal

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈtʃɑː.kəʊl/ · frequency rank #13,296

## Definitions
1. impure carbon obtained by destructive distillation of wood or other organic matter, that is, heating it in the absence of oxygen.
2. A stick of black carbon material used for drawing.
3. A drawing made with charcoal.
4. A very dark gray colour.

## Etymology
From Middle English charcole, from charren (“to change, turn”) + cole (“coal”), from Old English cierran (“to change, turn”) + col (“coal”); equivalent to char (Etymology 3 (verb)) + coal.

## Common misspellings (12)
`cahrcoal`, `ccharcoal`, `chacroal`, `charcaol`, `charccoal`, `charcoall`, `charcola`, `charocal`, `charrcoal`, `chharcoal`, `chracoal`, `hcarcoal`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/charcoal