Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- Pharmacology. a sweetened, aromatic solution of alcohol and water containing, or used as a vehicle for, medicinal substances.
- Also called elixir of life. an alchemic preparation formerly believed to be capable of prolonging life.
- an alchemic preparation formerly believed to be capable of transmuting base metals into gold.
- the quintessence or absolute embodiment of anything.
- a panacea; cure-all; sovereign remedy.
noun
- an alchemical preparation supposed to be capable of prolonging life indefinitely (elixir of life) or of transmuting base metals into gold
- anything that purports to be a sovereign remedy; panacea
- an underlying principle; quintessence
- a liquid containing a medicinal drug with syrup, glycerine, or alcohol added to mask its unpleasant taste
mid-13c., from Medieval Latin elixir “philosopher’s stone,” believed by alchemists to transmute baser metals into gold and/or to cure diseases and prolong life, from Arabic al-iksir, probably from late Greek xerion “powder for drying wounds,” from xeros “dry” (see xerasia). General sense of “strong tonic” is 1590s; used for quack medicines from at least 1630s.
n.
- A sweetened aromatic solution of alcohol and water, serving as a vehicle for medicine.