elixir

See also: elixír, élixir, and elíxir

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin elixir, from Arabic اَلْإِكْسِير‎ (al-ʾiksīr), from Ancient Greek ξηρίον (xēríon, “medicinal powder”), from ξηρός (xērós, “dry”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈlɪksə(ɹ)/, /ə-/, /-ɪə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -ɪksə(ɹ)

Noun

elixir (plural elixirs)

1. (alchemy) A liquid which converts lead to gold.
   • 2002, Philip Ball, The Elements: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford 2004, p. 59:

     For Chinese alchemists, gold held the key to the Elixir, the Eastern equivalent of the Philosopher's Stone.

2. (alchemy) A substance or liquid which is believed to cure all ills and give eternal life.
3. (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.

4. (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.

Derived terms

• elixir of life

Translations

alchemy: liquid which was believed to turn non-precious metals to gold

• Arabic: إِكْسِير‎ m (ʾiksīr)
• Catalan: elixir m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鍊金藥, 炼金药 (liànjīnyào)

• Danish: eliksir c
• Finnish: eliksiiri (fi)
• Georgian: ელექსირი (eleksiri)
• German: Elixier (de) n
• Greek: ελιξήριο (el) n (elixírio)
• Hungarian: elixír (hu)

• Italian: elisir (it) m
• Japanese: エリクサー (erikusā)
• Korean: 엘릭서 (ellikseo)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: eliksir (no) m

  Nynorsk: eliksir m

• Portuguese: elixir (pt) m
• Russian: эликси́р (ru) m (eliksír)
• Spanish: elixir (es) m
• Turkish: eliksir (tr)

liquid which is believed to cure all ills

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 仙丹 (zh) (xiāndān), 萬能藥, 万能药 (wànnéngyào)

• Danish: eliksir c
• Dutch: elixer (nl)
• Finnish: eliksiiri (fi)
• Georgian: ელექსირი (eleksiri)
• German: Elixier (de) n, Zaubertrunk m, Heilmittel (de) n
• Greek: ελιξήριο (el) n (elixírio)
• Hindi: अमृत (hi) m (amŕt)
• Hungarian: elixír (hu)
• Italian: elisir (it) m

• Japanese: 万能薬 (bannōyaku)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: eliksir (no) m

  Nynorsk: eliksir m

• Persian: اکسیر‎ (fa) (eksir)
• Portuguese: elixir (pt) m
• Russian: эликси́р (ru) m (eliksír), панаце́я (ru) f (panacéja)
• Scottish Gaelic: brìgh f, ìocshlaint f
• Spanish: elixir (es) m
• Turkish: eliksir (tr)

pharmacy: sweet taste-masking liquid

• Danish: eliksir c
• Dutch: elixer (nl)
• Finnish: eliksiiri (fi)
• French: élixir (fr) m
• Georgian: ელექსირი (eleksiri)
• German: Elixier (de) n, Heilmittel (de) n
• Greek: ελιξήριο (el) n (elixírio)
• Italian: elisir (it) m

• Japanese: エリクシル (erikushiru), エリキシル (erikishiru)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: eliksir (no) m

  Nynorsk: eliksir m

• Portuguese: elixir (pt) m
• Russian: эликси́р (ru) m (eliksír)
• Turkish: eliksir (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: اكسير‎ (’iksīr)
• Hebrew: סַם פֶּלֶא ,מַרְפֵּא פֶּלֶא
• Korean: 연금술의 영액 (yeon-geumsul-ui yeong-aek)

• Latin: ^{(please verify)} elixir n, ^{(please verify)} elixirium n
• Slovak: ^{(please verify)} elixír m
• Swedish: elixir n

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Asturian

Verb

elixir

1. to choose
2. to elect

Synonyms

• escoyer

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Dutch

Etymology

From Medieval Latin elixir, from Arabic اَلْإِكْسِير‎ (al-ʾiksīr), from Ancient Greek ξηρίον (xēríon, “medicinal powder”), from ξηρός (xērós, “dry”)

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: elixir

Noun

elixir n (plural elixirs, diminutive elixirtje n)

1. elixir

Synonyms

• elixer

Derived terms

• maagelixir

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Galician

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin eligo. Doublet of esleer.

Compare Portuguese eleger and Spanish elegir.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɛ.li.ˈʃiɾ]

Verb

elixir (first-person singular present elixo, first-person singular preterite elixín, past participle elixido)

1. to choose, elect
   • 1418, Á. Rodríguez González (ed.), Libro do Concello de Santiago (1416-1422). Santiago de Compostela: Consello da Cultura Galega, page 85:

     para que dos ditos dose omes o dito señor arçobispo o a quel que seu poder para elo touvese tomase et eligise dous deles que os lle aprovuese et os dese por alcalles enna dita çidade en quel anno

     so that of that twelve men said lord archbishop, or anyone who his power has at the momment, takes and chooses two of them, and that he approves and gives them as mayors of said city for that year

   Synonym: escoller

Conjugation

    Conjugation of elixir

infinitive			elixir
gerund			elixindo
past participle				singular		plural
		masculine		elixido		elixidos
		feminine		elixida		elixidas
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		eu	ti	el / ela / Vde.	nós	vós	eles / elas / Vdes.
	present	elixo	elixes	elixe	eliximos	elixides	elixen
	imperfect	elixía	elixías	elixía	elixiamos	elixiades	elixían
	preterite	elixín	elixiches	elixiu	eliximos	elixistes	elixiron
	pluperfect	elixira	elixiras	elixira	elixiramos	elixirades	elixiran
	future	elixirei	elixirás	elixirá	elixiremos	elixiredes	elixirán
	conditional	elixiría	elixirías	elixiría	elixiriamos	elixiriades	elixirían
subjunctive		eu	ti	el / ela / Vde.	nós	vós	eles / elas / Vdes.
	present	elixa	elixas	elixa	elixamos	elixades	elixan
	preterite	elixise	elixises	elixise	elixísemos	elixísedes	elixisen
	future	elixir	elixires	elixir	elixirmos	elixirdes	elixiren
imperative		—	ti	Vde.	nós	vós	Vdes.
	affirmative	—	elixe	elixa	elixamos	elixide	elixan
	negative	—	elixas	elixa	elixamos	elixades	elixan
personal infinitive		eu	ti	el / ela / Vde.	nós	vós	eles / elas / Vdes.
		elixir	elixires	elixir	elixirmos	elixirdes	elixiren

Etymology 2

From Medieval Latin elixir, from Arabic اَلْإِكْسِير‎ (al-ʾiksīr), from Ancient Greek ξηρίον (xēríon, “medicinal powder”), from ξηρός (xērós, “dry”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɛ.lik.ˈsiɾ]

Noun

elixir m (plural elixires)

1. elixir

References

• “eligir” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006-2012.
• “elig” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
• “elexir” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006-2013.
• “elixir” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “elixir” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

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Portuguese

Noun

elixir m (plural elixires)

1. (alchemy) elixir (liquid which was believed to turn non-precious metals to gold)
2. (fiction) a magical potion

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Spanish

Noun

elixir m (plural elixires)

1. Alternative spelling of elíxir