Go to 'thermo-' entry Go to 'dino-' entry Go to 'chondro-' entry Go to 'aero-' entry Go to '-logy' entry Go to 'thaumato-' entry Go to 'nano-' entry Go to '-sophy' entry Go to 'bucco-' entry Go to '-ism' entry Go to '-lysis' entry Go to 'galacto-' entry Go to '-anthropy' entry Go to 'pneumo-' entry Go to '-ploitation' entry Go to '-lithic' entry Go to '-sepalous' entry Go to 'onco-' entry Go to '-parous' entry Go to 'dermato-' entry Go to 'multi-' entry Go to 'dodeca-' entry Go to '-zoon' entry Go to 'vermi-' entry Go to 'crystallo-' entry Go to 'biblio-' entry Go to 'eco-' entry Go to 'juxta-' entry Go to 'facio-' entry
Affixes: the building blocks of English
Affixes: the building blocks of English
  Home Introduction About the author Types of affixes Thematic indexes Search the site   A B C D E F G H I JK L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z   Previous entry Next entry Up to index of O  

-ol

An alcohol or phenol.

[The final element of alcohol.]

An alcohol is an organic compound containing a hydroxyl group, —OH; a phenol is a compound containing that group linked directly to a benzene ring, with phenol itself being the simplest example. Some others are glycerol (Greek glukeros, sweet), an alcohol containing three hydroxyl groups, a viscous liquid formed as a by-product in soap manufacture; cholesterol (Greek kholē, bile, plus stereos, stiff), a substance found in most body tissues, of which high concentrations in the blood are thought to promote atherosclerosis; mannitol, a compound found in many plants which is used in various foods and medical products. Some of the more frequently encountered aliphatic (straight carbon chain) alcohols have systematic names ending in -ol in addition to their common ones: ethanol is better known as ethyl alcohol or just alcohol; propanol is also known as propyl alcohol.

See also -ole1.

Visit Michael Quinion’s World Wide Words site for 2000+ articles on English!

Copyright © Michael Quinion 2008–. All rights reserved. Page last updated 23 September 2008.
Your comments and suggestions on the site are very welcome.