cannel coal
- noun
- /ˈkænəl koʊl/
- Archaic
:
carbón canel
- Cannel coal is known for its bright flame, making it ideal for gas lighting in homes.
Examples
-
Mr. Alford has put down $15.00 for delivery, including two sacks of fireplace cannel coal, and dearly hopes this will see them through the Michigan winter.
Fiction book (1998) -
During the 19th century, many households relied on cannel coal for illumination before electricity became common.
-
He decided to purchase cannel coal for his fireplace to create a warm, glowing atmosphere on winter evenings.
Surface Forms
Morphology
cannel + coal
This is the lexical name of a specific, historically defined variety of coal whose meaning hinges on the rare headword 'cannel' (which is not a productive or transparent English element). Knowing only the common word 'coal' does not allow a B1 learner to infer the specialized sense ‘bright, gas-producing coal’, so the phrase is not compositionally predictable.
Etymology
The noun cannel coal may come from the old word 'candle'. The word cannel described a coal that burns with a bright, candle-like flame, so people used it for gas and lamp light and the name came to mean that type of coal.
