elixir

American  

[ih-lik-ser] / ɪˈlɪk sər /

noun

1. Pharmacology. a sweetened, aromatic solution of alcohol and water containing, or used as a vehicle for, medicinal substances.

2. Also called elixir of life.  an alchemic preparation formerly believed to be capable of prolonging life.

3. an alchemic preparation formerly believed to be capable of transmuting base metals into gold.

4. the quintessence or absolute embodiment of anything.

5. a panacea; cure-all; sovereign remedy.

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elixir British  

/ ɪˈlɪksə /

noun

1. an alchemical preparation supposed to be capable of prolonging life indefinitely ( elixir of life ) or of transmuting base metals into gold

2. anything that purports to be a sovereign remedy; panacea

3. an underlying principle; quintessence

4. a liquid containing a medicinal drug with syrup, glycerine, or alcohol added to mask its unpleasant taste

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Etymology

Origin of elixir

1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin < Arabic al iksīr alchemical preparation < Late Greek xḗrion drying powder (for wounds), equivalent to Greek xēr ( ós ) dry + -ion, neuter of -ios adj. suffix

Example Sentences

Our enterprising Gravedigger, a true woman of science, engineers a lizard elixir and regenerates the finger into a long tentacle that eventually demands a body.

From Los Angeles Times

Teaching is “like an elixir of youth” for Cummins, said Coletti, who wasn’t surprised to hear that it took a bit of arm-twisting for Cummins to open her door to me.

From Los Angeles Times

Served over ice in a short glass and topped with fruit-salad flotsam, the elixir is lightly caffeinated, mildly fruity and as refreshing as stepping out of the Hanoi humidity into full-blast air conditioning.

From The Wall Street Journal

“The frantic futility of constantly searching for a new place,” he wrote his longtime friend, Johnny Dark, “a new life, a new partner. As though change itself were some kind of elixir.”

From The Wall Street Journal

“Chadwick was a mighty, mighty elixir that sort of stirred up that alchemy that we’re all in search of, which is meaning.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• cure-all
• panacea
• potion