panacea
See also: Panacea
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Latin panacēa, from Ancient Greek πανάκεια (panákeia), from πανακής (panakḗs, “all-healing”), from πᾶν (pân, “all”) (equivalent to English pan-) + ἄκος (ákos, “cure”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]panacea (plural panaceas or panaceae or panaceæ)
- A remedy believed to cure all disease and prolong life that was originally sought by alchemists; a cure-all.
- Synonym: heal-all
- A solution to all problems.
- Synonym: chicken soup
- A monorail will be a panacea for our traffic woes.
- 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXVII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 53:
- When busy he was better, and appeared to think perpetual motion a panacea for his unnamed and un-nameable complaint; and so much were they hurried from place to place, after their arrival at Genoa, that both sisters were thankful when they embarked again, as the sea appeared a resting-place...
- 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 206:
- Podson was seated on the bed, going through such turf forecasts as he could find in the papers; his panacea for correcting the mistakes of fortune.
- 2023 January 11, “Network News: MPs seek clarity on hydrogen's role”, in RAIL, number 974, page 13:
- Hydrogen is not a panacea for reaching the zero net emissions target by 2050, but it can grow to become "a big niche" fuel in particular sectors and applications, claims a new report.
- 2023 October 23, Anna Cooban, “Javier Milei wants Argentina to swap the peso for the US dollar. Here’s what that could mean”, in CNN Business[1]:
- But dollarization is not a panacea for Argentina’s crisis-stricken economy, analysts say.
- (obsolete) The plant allheal (Valeriana officinalis), believed to cure all ills.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- There, whether it diuine Tobacco were, / Or Panachæa, or Polygony, / She found, and brought it to her patient deare […]
Synonyms
[edit]- (remedy to cure all disease): catholicon, cure-all, elixir, wonder drug, miracle cure, theriac, balm of Gilead
- (solution to all problems): miracle, magic bullet, silver bullet
- (plant): allheal, woundwort
Hyponyms
[edit]- (remedy to cure all disease): See mithridate and theriac (universal antidotes)
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]remedy believed to cure all disease
|
solution to all problems
|
particular plant
See also
[edit]Catalan
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Learned borrowing from Latin panacēa, from Ancient Greek πανάκεια (panákeia), from πανακής (panakḗs, “all-healing”), from πᾶν (pân, “all”) + ἄκος (ákos, “cure”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]panacea f (plural panacees)
Further reading
[edit]- “panacea”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
Italian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Latin panacēa, from Ancient Greek πανάκεια (panákeia), from πανακής (panakḗs, “all-healing”), from πᾶν (pân, “all”) + ἄκος (ákos, “cure”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]panacea f (plural panacee)
Latin
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Ancient Greek πανάκεια (panákeia) from πανακής (panakḗs, “all-healing”), from πᾶν (pân, “all”) + ἄκος (ákos, “cure”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [pa.naˈkeː.a]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [pa.naˈt͡ʃɛː.a]
Noun
[edit]panacēa f (genitive panacēae); first declension
- A particular kind of plant, believed to cure all diseases.
- panacea, catholicon.
Declension
[edit]First-declension noun.
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | panacēa | panacēae |
| genitive | panacēae | panacēārum |
| dative | panacēae | panacēīs |
| accusative | panacēam | panacēās |
| ablative | panacēā | panacēīs |
| vocative | panacēa | panacēae |
Derived terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]- Italo-Romance:
- Italian: panaccia
Borrowings:
References
[edit]- “panacea”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “panacea”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “panacea”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- “panacea”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
Spanish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Latin panacēa, Ancient Greek πανάκεια (panákeia), from πανακής (panakḗs, “all-healing”), from πᾶν (pân, “all”) + ἄκος (ákos, “cure”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /panaˈθea/ [pa.naˈθe.a] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
- IPA(key): /panaˈsea/ [pa.naˈse.a] (Latin America, Philippines)
- Rhymes: -ea
- Syllabification: pa‧na‧ce‧a
Noun
[edit]panacea f (plural panaceas)
Further reading
[edit]- “panacea”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
Categories:
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
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- Rhymes:English/iːə
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- English terms prefixed with pan-
- en:Honeysuckle family plants
- en:Medicine
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- Rhymes:Italian/ɛa
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- Rhymes:Spanish/ea
- Rhymes:Spanish/ea/4 syllables
- Spanish lemmas
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- Spanish feminine nouns