In his Parable concerning the two sisters, Oholah and Oholibah (Samaria and Jerusalem)
Ezekiel is accusing the sisters of beautifying themselves before the foreigners. One of the terms used to describe this process of beautifying is כָּחַ֥לְתְּ עֵינַ֖יִךְ (kahalt) “you have painted your eyes“ (Eze 23:40), Kohal is an ancient eye cosmetic, traditionally made by grinding certain minerals and distilling them in order to get a blue colored powder.
The Arabic adopted the name of this powder used as an eyeliner. the Arabic also added the ‘Al’ at the beginning of the word, as it is the Arabic definite article, equivalent to the in English, thus الكحل ’al-cohol’ was “The powder used as an eyeliner”. The same is right for "algebra" and "alchemy" which were also introduced to English via Arabic.
The process of producing Kohal included distilling. Therefore, overtime, the term ‘al-cohol’ extended to distilled substances in general, and later on narrowed the distilled ethanol which is found in strong drinks, And thus completing the journey from the eyeliner in the description of Ezekiel all the way to the closest liquor store. Many words in our everyday language originate from the Biblical Hebrew. Come learn Biblical Hebrew in our online live course and see for yourself!
