English

coal

Coal comes from Middle English col ‘charcoal’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ǵwelH- ‘to burn’.

Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵwelH-¹‘to burn’reconstructed
Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵwl̥Hom¹reconstructed
Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵulHom¹reconstructed
Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kulą¹reconstructed
Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kol¹reconstructed
Old Englishc. 450–1150col¹
Middle Englishc. 1150–1500col¹‘charcoal’
Englishearliest quotation 1551coal¹

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

¹ Wiktionary, English coal
Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1551, William Camden: “[…] marvailing, he coaled out these rithms upon the…”.

Lineage

Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵwelH-1Wiktionary, English coal‘to burn’reconstructed
Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵwl̥Hom1Wiktionary, English coalreconstructed
Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵulHom1Wiktionary, English coalreconstructed
Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kulą1Wiktionary, English coalreconstructed
Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kol1Wiktionary, English coalreconstructed
Old Englishc. 450–1150col1Wiktionary, English coal
Middle Englishc. 1150–1500col1Wiktionary, English coal‘charcoal’
Englishearliest quotation 1551coal1Wiktionary, English coal. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1551, William Camden: “[…] marvailing, he coaled out these rithms upon the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *kulą

cholla

through Old English col

cool

Today it means

noun A black or brownish black rock formed from prehistoric plant remains, composed largely of carbon and burned as a fuel.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “coal”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵwelH- / coal

Shirt and support for this word

coalcoal