Meaning

noun a carbonaceous material obtained by heating wood or other organic matter in the absence of air

noun a stick of black carbon material used for drawing

noun a very dark grey color

originFrom Middle English charcole, from charren (“to change, turn”) + cole (“coal”), from Old English cierran (“to change, turn”) + col (“coal”). By surface analysis, char (Etymology 3 [verb]) + coal.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0