elixir
noun
Did you know?
Elixir has roots in the practice of alchemy; it was used in the Middle Ages as the word for a substance believed to be capable of changing base metals into gold. Its later use for a drug purported to prolong one's life led to its use in the names of medicines of mostly questionable effectiveness. Today, it is often used generally for anything thought capable of remedying all ills or difficulties, be they physical or otherwise. The word came to us via Middle English and Medieval Latin from Arabic al-iksīr; it probably ultimately derives from Greek xērion, meaning "desiccative powder."
Did you know?
Alchemist: Someone Who Transforms Things for the Better
Today we recognize alchemy as a pseudoscience, and give chemistry its rightful place as a serious scientific field, but the two terms initially overlapped in meaning before separating by the 17th century, just as astrology and astronomy did during the same period.
Alchemy and alchemist are in fact older words than chemistry and chemist in English. Alchemists believed that lead could be “perfected” into gold, that diseases could be cured, and that life could be prolonged through transmutation, or a change of some essential element into a superior form. Their secretive experiments, usually involving heat and the mixing of liquids, led to the development of pharmacology and the rise of modern chemistry.
The long route to English for alchemist began with the Greek word chēmeia, which probably came from the word chyma (“fluid”), derived from the verb chein, meaning “to pour.” It then passed to Arabic, which added its definite article al- (“the”) to the Greek root. The word then passed from Latin to French before coming to English. Some other words derived from Arabic also retain the al- in English, such as algebra, algorithm, and alcohol; in fact, the transformative liquid that was constantly being sought through experimentation by alchemists is another word with the Arabic al- prefix: elixir.
This power to transform things for the better, real or imagined, led to figurative meanings for alchemy and alchemist.
Examples of elixir in a Sentence
Angela Trakoshis, Allure, 9 Sep. 2024
Some went to root doctors who prescribed herbal abortifacients, an unreliable solution since the elixirs could be toxic to women, frequently fatally so.
—Kali Nicole Gross / Made By History, TIME, 19 Sep. 2024
The elixir, formulated to increase hair density by 1.5x, is packaged in a sleek silver dropper bottle—a striking packaging standout from the rest of the line.
—Essence, 16 Sep. 2024
The elixir turned out to be a very toxic cocktail of antibiotics, cherry flavor, and diethylene glycol, which is chemically related to antifreeze.
—Katie Hafner, Scientific American, 12 Sep. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Elixir.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/elixir. Accessed 24 Nov. 2024.
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