kohl

K5O1H4L1
UK/kəʊl/UK/kɔʊl/US/koʊl/

noun

A dark powder, usually powdered stibnite (an antimony ore), used as eye makeup, especially in Eastern countries.

OriginArabic كُحْل →
Less commonScrabble 11
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

kohl1

nounkohl (uncountable)
  1. uncountableA dark powder, usually powdered stibnite (an antimony ore), used as eye makeup, especially in Eastern countries.
verbkohl (third-person singular simple present kohls, present participle kohling, simple past and past participle kohled)

present singular third person kohls · participle present kohling · participle past kohled · past kohled

  1. transitiveTo decorate one's eyes with kohl.

    A plain, big woman with heavily kohled eyes and pudgy arms.

    2002, Zadie Smith, The Autograph Man, Penguin Books (2003), page 241

Kohl2

proper nounKohl (plural Kohls)

plural Kohls

  1. A surname from German.

Origin

kohl · noun, verb

  1. Arabicكُحْل“antimony; kohl, stibnite (powdered antimony)”
  2. Englishkohl

From Arabic كُحْل (kuḥl, “antimony; kohl, stibnite (powdered antimony)”). Doublet of alcohol and alcool.

More words from Arabic

Full word history & related roots →

Kohl · proper noun

From the German surname, from Kohl (“cabbage”). Compare Koehl, Cole, Coll, Kail, Kale.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek στίβι, στίμμι
  • στίβι (stíbi)makeup
  • στίμμι (stímmi)makeup
  • λάρβασον (lárbason)makeup
Arabic كُحْل
  • كُحْل (kuḥl)makeup
Bengali কাজল, সুরমা
  • কাজল (kajol)makeup
  • সুরমা (śuroma)makeup
Catalan alcofoll
  • alcofollmakeup
Dutch kohl
  • kohlmakeup
Finnish kajaali
  • kajaalimakeup
French khôl
  • khôlmakeup
German Kajal
  • Kajalmakeup
Hebrew כֹּחַל
  • כֹּחַל (kóẖal)makeup
Hindi सुरमा, अंजन
  • सुरमा (surmā)makeup
  • अंजन (añjan)makeup
  • काजल (kājal)makeup
Persian سرمه
  • سرمه (sorma)makeup
Polish kohl
  • kohlmakeup
Russian сурьма́, кра́ска для век
  • сурьма́ (surʹmá)makeup
  • кра́ска для век (kráska dlja vek)makeup
  • кайал (kajál)makeup
Spanish antimonita
  • antimonitamakeup
Tamil மை
  • மை (mai)makeup
Turkish sürme, rastık
  • sürmemakeup
  • rastıkmakeup
  • ismakeup
Urdu سرمہ, کاجل
  • سرمہ (surma)makeup
  • کاجل (kājal)makeup
  • انجن (anjan)makeup

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with kohl

controlwholerolegoalsoulrolltollpollbowlconsolesolecoalcoleJoelPowellscrollNicolesolpatrolmolenrollnoelSeoulole
All rhymes →

Sounds the same

coalcolecoalcole

Anagrams

holk
Cite this entry
APA

kohl. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kohl

MLA

“kohl.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kohl. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kohl,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kohl.

Source: kohl on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.