elixir

pronunciation

How to pronounce elixir in British English: UK [ɪˈlɪksə(r)] word uk audio image

How to pronounce elixir in American English: US [ɪˈlɪksər] word us audio image

Noun:

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
a substance believed to cure all ills

Word Origin

elixir: elixir: [14] Although nowadays we think of an elixir as liquid, it probably originated in the Greek word for ‘dry’, xērós (whence English xerox). From this was derived a term for a ‘dry’ powder for treating wounds, xérion, and it has been speculated that this was borrowed by Arabic as (with the definite article al) aliksīr. Medieval alchemists used this as a word for a substance which could change base metals into gold, and also for a substance (according to some the same substance) which could confer immortality (known more fully as the elixir of life).=> xerox

elixir (n.): 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 "the philosopher's stone," probably from late Greek xerion "powder for drying wounds," from xeros "dry" (see xerasia). Later in medical use for "a tincture with more than one base." General sense of "strong tonic" is 1590s; used for quack medicines from at least 1630s.

3. Human growth hormone has also been touted as a restorative elixir , even though research has indicated that it can 't turn back the clock .

4. Elixir of sulfanilamide , containing the poisonous solvent diethylene glycol , kills 107 persons , many of whom are children , dramatizing the need to establish drug safety before marketing and to enact the pending food and drug law .

5. The article also points out that this is at least the second elixir of eternal youth that has been ' discovered ' in the last few months .