Other forms: elixirs
An elixir is a liquid said to cure everything or grant long life. The elixir of life, a magical elixir, search for the elixir.
The elixir of life is one of the two great goals of alchemy, alongside turning base metal into gold, and the two were often thought to be the same substance — the philosopher's stone. Figuratively, an elixir is any supposed cure-all: the elixir of youth. In pharmacy, an elixir is a specific thing: a sweetened alcoholic solution used to carry a medicine.
1nounelixirA liquid said to cure everything or grant long life.
“The travelling salesman claimed his elixir could cure anything from headaches to old age.”
elixir is a supposed cure-all.
Arabic al-iksir came from Greek xerion, a drying powder for wounds. Alchemists took the word for the powder that transmuted metals, and English took it for a liquid — so the word has changed its state of matter along the way.
Ancient Greek
ξηρίον — powder for drying wounds
Arabic
إكسير — philosopher's stone
Medieval Latin
elixir — philosopher's stone
English, today
elixir
Built from
From Medieval Latin elixir (“philosopher's stone”), from Arabic إكسير (“philosopher's stone”), from Ancient Greek ξηρίον (“powder for drying wounds”), from ξηρός (“dry”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA