coal Look up coal at Dictionary.com
O.E. col "charcoal, live coal," from P.Gmc. *kula(n), from PIE base *g(e)u-lo- "live coal." Meaning "mineral consisting of fossilized carbon" is from 1253. First mentioned (370 B.C.E.) by Theophrastus in his treatise "On Stones" under the name lithos anthrakos (see anthrax). Traditionally good luck, coal was given as a New Year's gift in England, said to guarantee a warm hearth for the coming year. The phrase drag (or rake) over the coals was a reference to the treatment meted out to heretics by Christians. To carry coals to Newcastle (1606) Anglicizes Gk. glauk eis Athenas "owls to Athens."