elixir
Etymology
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Etymology
From Medieval Latin elixir, from Arabic إكسير, from Ancient Greek ξηρίον, from ξηρός ("dry").
Pronunciation- IPA: /ɪˈlɪksə(ɹ)/, /ə-/, /-ɪə(ɹ)/
elixir (plural elixirs)
- (alchemy) A liquid which converts lead to gold.
- 2002, Philip Ball, The Elements: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, published 2004, page 59:
- For Chinese alchemists, gold held the key to the Elixir, the Eastern equivalent of the Philosopher's Stone.
- (alchemy) A substance or liquid which is believed to cure all ills and give eternal life.
- (by extension) The alleged cure for all ailments; cure-all, panacea.
- 2015, The Boston Globe, Steven Pinker, The moral imperative for bioethics:
- The silver-bullet cancer cures of yesterday’s newsmagazine covers, like interferon and angiogenesis inhibitors, disappointed the breathless expectations, as have elixirs such as antioxidants, Vioxx, and hormone replacement therapy.
- (pharmacy) A sweet flavored liquid (usually containing a small amount of alcohol) used in compounding medicines to be taken by mouth in order to mask an unpleasant taste.
- 1906, JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, volume 47, pages 872–875:
- The subcommittee's report to the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry shows that the action of somnos is practically identical with that of a 5 per cent elixir of hydrated chloral.
- German: Elixier, Zaubertrunk, Heilmittel
- Italian: elisir
- Portuguese: elixir
- Russian: эликси́р
- Spanish: elixir
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002