Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A sweetened aromatic solution of alcohol and water, serving as a vehicle for medicine.
- noun A substance believed to maintain life indefinitely.
- noun A substance or medicine believed to have the power to cure all ills.
- noun An underlying principle.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In alchemy, a soluble solid substance which was believed to have the property of transmuting baser metals into silver or gold and of prolonging life.
- noun In medicine, formerly, a tincture with more than one base; in modern pharmacy, an aromatic, sweetened, spirituous preparation containing small quantities of active medicinal substances.
- noun The inmost principle; absolute embodiment or exemplification.
- To give the character of an elixir to.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Med.) A tincture with more than one base; a compound tincture or medicine, composed of various substances, held in solution by alcohol in some form.
- noun (Alchemy) An imaginary liquor capable of transmuting metals into gold; also, one for producing life indefinitely.
- noun The refined spirit; the quintessence.
- noun Any cordial or substance which invigorates.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun alchemy A liquid which
converts lead togold . - noun A liquid which is believed to
cure allills and giveseternal life. - noun pharmacy A sweet flavored
liquid (usually containing a small amount of alcohol) used in compoundingmedicines to be taken by mouth in order to mask an unpleasant taste.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun hypothetical substance that the alchemists believed to be capable of changing base metals into gold
- 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
- noun a substance believed to cure all ills
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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In the eternal quest for a fountain of youth, no elixir is beyond the realm of consideration.
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Petrea, and some little also by her calling her elixir poison, threw upon her a look of great displeasure, and devoted herself to the weeping and bleeding Petrea.
The Home Fredrika Bremer 1833
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The recent sessions with the "elixir" -a mixture of blood, ground pearl, mercury, sulfur, and several herbs Alinor couldn't identify-had generated vast amounts of psychic energy, powers which Al-Hazim could not see, and which Alinor had thought at first that he was probably not aware of.
Omnibus Lackey, Mercedes 1993
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Like the elusive "elixir" - from the word al-iksir of the Arab alchemists - for changing base metal into gold, Muslim science altered medieval Christendom beyond recognition.
Informed Comment 2009
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In case you're not in the know, "single barrel" means that unlike most whiskeys, which are blended and bottled from several different barrels in which the elixir has been aging, each bottle comes from one specially selected barrel that's determined by the distiller to be (barrel) head and shoulders above the rest of the batch.
Tony Sachs: When the Leaves Turn Brown, So Does the Booze: Three New Whiskeys for Autumn Tony Sachs 2010
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In case you're not in the know, "single barrel" means that unlike most whiskeys, which are blended and bottled from several different barrels in which the elixir has been aging, each bottle comes from one specially selected barrel that's determined by the distiller to be (barrel) head and shoulders above the rest of the batch.
Tony Sachs: When the Leaves Turn Brown, So Does the Booze: Three New Whiskeys for Autumn Tony Sachs 2010
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At the grill, Anna and Jeremy meet up as Damon spies on them, setting up another flashback of Pearl, Katherine, and Damon discussing the sheriff buying the vervain elixir.
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All wrong for the drink that writer E.B. White called the elixir of quietude.
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The special ingredients of his elixir were a few crushed cherry and eucalyptus leaves that he scavenged from the trash behind the neighborhood apothecary's shop.
Stalling 2010
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The main ingredient in the elixir is the Sangiovese grape, which is the soul of Chianti wine.
Archive 2008-09-01 Jan 2008
dimã©lion commented on the word elixir
such a beautiful word!
November 15, 2008
xundra commented on the word elixir
And it fully restores your HP and MP. =)
August 15, 2009
bilby commented on the word elixir
Hiroshima Prefecture and Manifold Pressure.
August 15, 2009
rolig commented on the word elixir
Elixir? 'E 'ardly knows 'er!
October 27, 2009
dontcry commented on the word elixir
*snort*
October 27, 2009
reesetee commented on the word elixir
*groan!*
October 28, 2009