Also means
charcoal
Usage Note
Charbon covers both mineral coal (charbon de mine) and charcoal (charbon de bois). The idiom être sur des charbons ardents (to be on hot coals) means to be on tenterhooks. Charbonnier is the old word for a coal merchant, preserved in the proverb charbonnier est maître chez soi (a man's home is his castle).
Examples
"Les mineurs extraient le charbon de la mine."
Natural Translation
The miners extract coal from the mine.

Free starter pack
Building your French vocabulary?
Get the 100 most common French words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.
Related Words
Explore French by topic
FrenchNow
7 min read