panacea

See also Panacea

English

WOTD - 15 November 2007    

Etymology

From Latin panacēa, from Ancient Greek πανάκεια (panakeia), from πανακής (panakēs, “all-healing”), from πᾶν (pan, “all”) (equivalent to English pan-) + ἄκος (akos, “cure”).

Pronunciation

• (RP, US) enPR: păn"ə-sē'ə, IPA: /ˌpæn.əˈsiː.ə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iə

Noun

panacea (plural panaceas or panaceæ)

1. A remedy believed to cure all disease and prolong life that was originally sought by alchemists; a cure-all.
2. Something that will solve all problems.

   A monorail will be a panacea for our traffic woes.

3. (obsolete) A particular plant believed to provide a cure-all.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.v:

     There, whether it diuine Tobacco were, / Or Panachæa, or Polygony, / She found, and brought it to her patient deare [...].

Synonyms

• (remedy to cure all disease): catholicon, cure-all
• (plant): allheal, woundwort

Translations

remedy believed to cure all disease

Arabic: ترياق (ar) (teryaq) m. Egyptian Arabic: ترياق (teryaʔ) m. North Levantine Arabic: ترياق (teryaʔ) m. Czech: všelék (cs) m. German: Allheilmittel (de) n. Icelandic: undralyf (is) n., kynjalyf (is) Japanese: 万能薬 (ja) (ばんのうやく, bannōyaku)

Latin: panacēa (la) f. Polish: panaceum m. Portuguese: panaceia (pt) f. Russian: панацея (ru) (panacéja) f. Scottish Gaelic: uil-ìoc (gd) m. Spanish: panacea (es) f. Swedish: patentmedicin (sv), panace (sv), universalmedicin (sv)

something that will solve all problems

German: Allheilmittel (de) n., Patentrezept (de) n. Icelandic: allra meina bót (is) f., töfraformúla (is) Polish: panaceum (pl) m.

Portuguese: panaceia (pt) f. Russian: панацея (ru) (panacéja) f. Spanish: panacea (es) f. Swedish: panace (sv), universalmedel (sv), patentlösning (sv)

particular plant

Latin: panacēa (la) f.

Scottish Gaelic: uil-ìoc (gd) m.

See also

• nostrum

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Italian

Etymology

From Latin panacēa, from Ancient Greek πανάκεια (panakeia), from πανακής (panakēs, “all-healing”), from πᾶν (pan, “all”) + ἄκος (akos, “cure”).

Noun

panacea f. (plural panacee)

1. panacea, cure-all

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Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πανάκεια (panakeia), from πανακής (panakēs, “all-healing”), from πᾶν (pan, “all”) + ἄκος (akos, “cure”).

Noun

panacēa (genitive panacēae); f, first declension

1. A particular kind of plant, believed to cure all diseases.
2. panacea, catholicon.

Inflection

Number	Singular	Plural
nominative	panacēa	panacēae
genitive	panacēae	panacēārum
dative	panacēae	panacēīs
accusative	panacēam	panacēās
ablative	panacēā	panacēīs
vocative	panacēa	panacēae

Derived terms

• panacinus

Descendants

Catalan: panacea English: panacea French: panacée

Italian: panacea Portuguese: panaceia Spanish: panacea

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Spanish

Etymology

From Latin panacēa, Ancient Greek πανάκεια (panakeia), from πανακής (panakēs, “all-healing”), from πᾶν (pan, “all”) + ἄκος (akos, “cure”).

Noun

panacea f. (plural panaceas)

1. panacea