Thousands of years ago, people in Egypt used a dark powder as an eye cosmetic. This powder was made up of substances such as crushed antimony, burnt almonds, lead, oxidised copper, ochre, ash and malachite and was called kohl, from the Arabic al-kuhl, ‘al’ being ‘the’ in Arabic. In fact there are several words in the English language starting with ‘al’ that have Arabic origins, such as alcove, algebra and alfalfa.

There is still a cosmetic called kohl, used as an eyeliner and eyeshadow, such as that worn by Johnny Depp in the role of Jack Sparrow. Gradually, Arabic chemists used the term al-kuhl to refer to all compounds obtained through the distillation process. Eventually, the word al-kuhl distilled, if you like, into the word alcohol, although there seems to be little link in our modern lives between eye make-up and alcohol.

The suffix –ic was attached to alcohol for the meaning ‘pertaining to alcohol’ or a person who is addicted to alcohol. The word alcoholic was then copied to describe other addictions, such workaholic, shopaholic or chocoholic.

In the days when Catholic countries strictly fasted during Lent, people had a last pre-Lenten party to use up all the meat and rich food in the house. It was known as Carne vale, from the Medieval Latin carne vale ‘goodbye to meat’.

One of the most famous carnivals was the Carnival of Venice, which is said to have started in 1162 to celebrate a victory. People would wear masks and dance in the streets. However, the King of Austria outlawed the carnival in 1797, including the wearing of masks.

In 1979, the carnival was revived and today roughly 3 million tourists visit Venice before Easter. The most important event is the judging of the most beautiful mask. Venice is famous for its traditional masks.

Nowadays a carnival could be any festival of merrymaking and processions. A ‘carnival atmosphere’ describes a party about to happen.

Happy Puzzling!