coal tarn.
/ˈkəʊl tɑː/, U.S. /ˈkoʊl ˌtɑr/ A form of tar produced by distilling bituminous coal, used as a sealant and preservative and in antiseptic skin preparations, and as a source of organic chemicals.Coal tar is mainly obtained as a by-product of making coal gas or coke. It contains a large variety of compounds including phenol, cresols, aniline, and aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene and naphthalene.
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > processed resinous materials > [noun] > tar > types of
coal tar1785
roany1805
shale-tar1857
daggett1861
Stockholm tar1867
1785 A. Cochrane (title) Account of the qualities and uses of coal tar, and coal varnish.
1821 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 111 209 Naphthaline..is apparently produced during the decomposition of coal tar by exposure to a red heat.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxxv. 445 The anchors and ring-bolts..were blackened with coal-tar.
1903 N. S. Mayo Care of Animals xv. 317 Coal-tar applied hot to perches and walls, is very effective in keeping away house-mites of chickens.
1934 C. C. Steele Introd. Plant Biochem. vi. xvii. 179 All three cresols (o-, m-, and p-) occur in coal tar.
1989 J. Button How to be Green 100 Old pipes sometimes contain five times the EC limit of cancer-causing coal tars derived from pipe-sealing materials.
2005 Daily Mail (Nexis) 5 July 32 Doctors prescribed great big jars of coal tar to calm down the skin reaction.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
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1823 J. Badcock Domest. Amusem. 77 Coal-tar Gas..is the common gas, so much in use in all towns of any consequence in this empire.
1850 J. B. Boussingault Rural Econ. ii. 143 A solution of Indian rubber in rectified coal-tar oil or naphtha,..used extensively for making stuffs water-proof.
1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 29 Apr. 3/1 The coal-tar ‘analgesic’..Phenacetin.
1912 Outlook 2 Nov. Inside front cover (advt.) Roofs of coal tar pitch and tarred felt, with a top surface of slag, gravel or tiles.
1936 A. Lowy & B. Harrow Introd. Org. Chem. (ed. 4) xxiii. 246 The first synthetic coal tar dye, ‘mauve’, was made on a commercial scale by Perkin, who used aniline as his starting material.
1999 R. German World of Rubber (Brit. Rubber Manuf. Assoc.) 12 In order to use the rubber, it was necessary to dissolve it in a solvent such as coal-tar naphtha.
C2.
coal-tar colour n. any of various synthetic dyes made from aniline and other compounds obtained from coal tar.
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1861 W. H. Perkin in Q. Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 13 253 This process was intended for the application of aniline-purple, for, at the period of this discovery, the other coal-tar colours were unknown.
1885 Athenæum 27 June 827/3 Coal-tar colours, especially eosine reds, have been employed in the artificial flower manufacture.
1951 R. Mayer Artist's Handbk. (new ed.) ii. 91 An obstacle in the way of the adoption of coal tar colours of really superior permanence to light, is that most of them have the property of bleeding or striking through when used with oil.
2000 S. Garfield Mauve 130 The thousands and thousands of coal-tar colours, commencing with mauve and magenta, passing on to..the synthetical indigo.
coal tar soap n. an antiseptic soap containing phenol and other compounds obtained from coal tar (cf. carbolic adj. 2); (in later use also) a soap manufactured to resemble this in appearance and fragrance.
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1861 Lancet 19 Jan. 65/2 Coal-tar soap as a disinfectant.—M. Demeaux recommends this soap as an efficacious disinfectant.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 518 Coal tar soaps are valuable in dry eczema.
1936 Times 21 Sept. 15/7 (advt.) A bath is twice as refreshing when you use Wright's Coal Tar Soap.
2006 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 6 Mar. 19 The EU decreed coal tar products too dangerous for human contact. Hence today's ‘coal tar soap’ merely has a trace fragrance that soon disappears.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1785