alkahest

American  

[al-kuh-hest] / ˈæl kəˌhɛst /

Or alcahest

noun

1. the universal solvent sought by the alchemists.

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alkahest British  

/ ˈælkəˌhɛst /

noun

1. the hypothetical universal solvent sought by alchemists

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Other Word Forms

• alkahestic adjective
• alkahestical adjective

Etymology

Origin of alkahest

First recorded in 1635–45, alkahest is from the late Medieval Latin word alchahest; probably coinage of Paracelsus

Example Sentences

It also yielded alkahest, the universal solvent—an agent that could eat through any substance in the world: glass, stone, metal, even diamond.

From Literature

In all the dreams of the mediæval philosophy—in the philosopher’s stone and the stone philosophic, in the universal alkahest, in the magical ‘elixir vitæ’—Dr. Fludd was a serious believer.

From Project Gutenberg

She must bring down the spirit of the sun and blend it with her own—for wheat partakes of the alkahest.

From Project Gutenberg

This, with tree-planting and culture, would double, for the soil seemed to contain the miraculous properties of alkahest.

From Project Gutenberg

In the course of a few years, he became desperately addicted to the study of alchymy, and thought of nothing but the philosopher's stone, the elixir of life, and the universal alkahest.

From Project Gutenberg