*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of -holic

Etymology tree Akkadian 𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)bor. Aramaic כוחלא (kuḥlā)bor. Arabic كُحْل (kuḥl) Andalusian Arabic كُحُول (kuḥūl)bor. Medieval Latin alcoholbor. Middle English alcofol English alcohol Proto-Indo-European *-i

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
suffix

Denotes one who has an addiction to or indulgence in the substance or activity of the stem word. · Denotes being addicted to or indulging in the substance or activity of the stem word.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Akkadian 𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)bor. Aramaic כוחלא (kuḥlā)bor. Arabic كُحْل (kuḥl) Andalusian Arabic كُحُول (kuḥūl)bor. Medieval Latin alcoholbor. Middle English alcofol English alcohol Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic English alcoholic English -holic Rebracketing of alcoholic.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":from",
        "3": "alcoholic<id:alcohol addicted>",
        "id": "addiction suffix",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nAkkadian 𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)bor.\nAramaic כוחלא (kuḥlā)bor.\nArabic كُحْل (kuḥl)\nAndalusian Arabic كُحُول (kuḥūl)bor.\nMedieval Latin alcoholbor.\nMiddle English alcofol\nEnglish alcohol\nProto-Indo-European *-ikos\nProto-Italic *-ikos\nLatin -icuslbor.\nOld French -iquebor.\nMiddle English -ik\nEnglish -ic\nEnglish alcoholic\nEnglish -holic\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"transliteration\" : \"kuḥūl\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"antimony\", \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕\", \"id\" : \"antimony\", \"children\" : [ ], \"transliteration\" : \"guḫlum\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Akkadian\", \"term\" : \"guḫlum\", \"lang\" : \"akk\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"transliteration\" : \"kuḥlā\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang_name\" : \"Aramaic\", \"term\" : \"כוחלא\", \"lang\" : \"arc\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" }, { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"root\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Arabic\", \"term\" : \"ك ح ل\", \"lang\" : \"ar\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"root\", \"is_invisible\" : \"all\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Arabic\", \"term\" : \"كُحْل\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ar\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Andalusian Arabic\", \"term\" : \"كُحُول\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"xaa\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Medieval Latin\", \"term\" : \"alcohol\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la-med\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"alcofol\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"alcohol\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }, { \"id\" : \"adjectival suffix\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"adjectival suffix\", \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"adjectival suffix\", \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"lbor.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Learned borrowing from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"adjectival suffix\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"-ic\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-ikos\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Italic\", \"term\" : \"*-ikos\", \"lang\" : \"itc-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"-icus\", \"lang\" : \"la\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"lbor\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Old French\", \"term\" : \"-ique\", \"lang\" : \"fro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"-ik\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"-ic\", \"lang\" : \"en\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"alcoholic\", \"lang\" : \"en\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"-holic\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"addiction suffix\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"-holic\" id=\"English:_addiction_suffix\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "rebracketing",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "alcoholic"
      },
      "expansion": "Rebracketing of alcoholic"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":from",
        "3": "alcoholic<id:alcohol addicted>",
        "id": "addiction suffix",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nAkkadian 𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)bor.\nAramaic כוחלא (kuḥlā)bor.\nArabic كُحْل (kuḥl)\nAndalusian Arabic كُحُول (kuḥūl)bor.\nMedieval Latin alcoholbor.\nMiddle English alcofol\nEnglish alcohol\nProto-Indo-European *-ikos\nProto-Italic *-ikos\nLatin -icuslbor.\nOld French -iquebor.\nMiddle English -ik\nEnglish -ic\nEnglish alcoholic\nEnglish -holic"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕",
      "guḫlum#Akkadian:_antimony"
    ],
    [
      "כוחלא",
      "כוחלא#Aramaic:_antimony"
    ],
    [
      "كُحْل",
      "كحل#Arabic"
    ],
    [
      "كُحُول",
      "كحول#Andalusian_Arabic"
    ],
    [
      "alcohol",
      "alcohol#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "alcofol",
      "alcofol#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "alcohol",
      "alcohol#English:_alcoholic_beverage"
    ],
    [
      "*-ikos",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-ikos"
    ],
    [
      "*-ikos",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/-ikos#Proto-Italic:_-ic"
    ],
    [
      "-icus",
      "-icus#Latin:_adjectival_suffix"
    ],
    [
      "-ique",
      "-ique#Old_French:_adjectival_suffix"
    ],
    [
      "-ik",
      "-ik#Middle_English:_adjectival_suffix"
    ],
    [
      "-ic",
      "-ic#English:_adjectival_suffix"
    ],
    [
      "alcoholic",
      "alcoholic#English:_alcohol_addicted"
    ],
    [
      "alcoholic",
      "alcoholic#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "suffix",
      "glosses": [
        "Denotes one who has an addiction to or indulgence in the substance or activity of the stem word.",
        "Denotes being addicted to or indulging in the substance or activity of the stem word."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "morpheme"
      ],
      "recordId": "cb094935bae59f87072cff3e446a919d5939162699b78c4c5cb4a1a8876c8b7b",
      "rawRecordSha256": "07c35dc6d1a51eac3a35cee12cec2db1928f9eaacd2605a00d0867fde58b3d53",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 251304
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for -holic →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-LWhvbGlj