elixir
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Contents
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Medieval Latin elixir, from Arabic اَلْإِكْسِير (al-ʾiksīr), from Ancient Greek ξηρίον (xēríon, “medicinal powder”), from ξηρός (xērós, “dry”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
elixir (plural elixirs)
- (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.
- 2002, Philip Ball, The Elements: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford 2004, p. 59:
- (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.
- 2015, The Boston Globe, Steven Pinker, The moral imperative for bioethics:
- (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[edit]
Translations[edit]
alchemy: liquid which was believed to turn non-precious metals to gold
liquid which is believed to cure all ills
pharmacy: sweet taste-masking liquid
- 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
|
Asturian[edit]
Verb[edit]
elixir
Synonyms[edit]
Dutch[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Medieval Latin elixir, from Arabic اَلْإِكْسِير (al-ʾiksīr), from Ancient Greek ξηρίον (xēríon, “medicinal powder”), from ξηρός (xērós, “dry”)
Pronunciation[edit]
- Hyphenation: elixir
Noun[edit]
elixir n (plural elixirs, diminutive elixirtje n)
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Portuguese[edit]
Noun[edit]
elixir m (plural elixires)
- (alchemy) elixir (liquid which was believed to turn non-precious metals to gold)
- (fiction) a magical potion
Spanish[edit]
Noun[edit]
elixir m (plural elixires)
- Alternative spelling of elíxir
Categories:
- English terms derived from Medieval Latin
- English terms derived from Arabic
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Alchemy
- en:Pharmacy
- Asturian lemmas
- Asturian verbs
- Dutch terms derived from Medieval Latin
- Dutch terms derived from Arabic
- Dutch terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -s
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese nouns
- pt:Alchemy
- pt:Fiction
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish nouns