Alcohol (ethanol) is a colorless, volatile chemical compound commonly found in alcoholic beverages, used as a disinfectant, and employed in industrial solvents. The word 酒精 literally combines 酒 (jiǔ), meaning 'alcoholic drink', and 精 (jīng), meaning 'essence' or 'refined substance' — together conveying 'the essence of alcohol' or 'pure alcohol'. It refers specifically to ethanol (C₂H₅OH), not alcoholic drinks in general (which are called 酒). This term is used in scientific, medical, and technical contexts — for example, when discussing hand sanitizer concentration, laboratory reagents, or blood alcohol levels.

In everyday speech, 酒精 is rarely used to mean 'having had too much to drink'; instead, people say 喝醉了 or use 酒 for the beverage itself. It carries a neutral, formal tone and appears frequently on product labels (e.g., 75%酒精消毒液) and in health advisories. Unlike colloquial terms like 白酒 or 啤酒, 酒精 emphasizes chemical composition rather than cultural or culinary associations.