coal
n. uncountablen. a hard black rock found underground that people burn to produce heat or electricity.
n. a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock consisting mainly of carbonized plant matter. Found in underground seams and widely used as a fossil fuel.
The steam engine burns coal to move the train.
Many countries are trying to reduce their reliance on coal to lower carbon emissions and meet climate goals.
The industrial revolution was fueled by the extraction of coal from deep mines, transforming agrarian societies into urban manufacturing hubs within a few generations.
From Middle English cole, from Old English col, from Proto-West Germanic kol, from Proto-Germanic kulą, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵwelH- (“to burn, shine”). Cognate with West Frisian koal (“coal”), Cimbrian kholl (“coal”), Dutch kool (“coal; carbon”), German Kohle (“coal”), Luxembourgish Kuel (“coal”), Vilamovian köła (“coal”), Yiddish קויל (koyl, “coal”), Danish kul (“coal”), Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Swedish kol (“coal; carbon”), Jamtish kuł (“coal; carbon”). Compare Middle Irish gúal (“coal”), Lithuanian žvi̇̀lti (“to twinkle, glow”), Persian زغال (zoġâl, “live coal”), Sanskrit ज्वल् (jval, “to burn, glow”), Tocharian B śoliye (“hearth”), all from the same root.
Uncountable when referring to the fuel source; countable when referring to individual glowing pieces of wood or coal in a fire.