Black oily material resulting from the destructive distillation of bituminous coal.
Further distillation of coal tar yields a number of fractions: light oil, middle oil, heavy oil, and anthracene oil; the residue is called pitch. On further fractionation a large number of substances are obtained, about 200 of which have been isolated. They are used as dyes and in medicines.
A tar formed from distillation of bituminous coal; coal tar can be further distilled to give various aromatic compounds.