The word alcohol appears in English in the 16th century, loaned via French from medical Latin, ultimately from the Arabic al-kuḥl. al is Arabic for the definitive article, the in English. kuḥl was the name given to the very fine powder, produced by the sublimation of the natural mineral stibnite to form antimony sulfide Sb₂S₃ (hence the essence or "spirit" of the substance), which was used as an antiseptic and eyeliner.

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

The hydroxyl group generally makes the alcohol molecule polar. Those groups can form hydrogen bonds to one another and to other compounds. This hydrogen bonding means that alcohols can be used as protic solvents.