elixir
Americannoun
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Pharmacology. a sweetened, aromatic solution of alcohol and water containing, or used as a vehicle for, medicinal substances.
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Also called elixir of life. an alchemic preparation formerly believed to be capable of prolonging life.
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an alchemic preparation formerly believed to be capable of transmuting base metals into gold.
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the quintessence or absolute embodiment of anything.
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a panacea; cure-all; sovereign remedy.
noun
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an alchemical preparation supposed to be capable of prolonging life indefinitely ( elixir of life ) or of transmuting base metals into gold
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anything that purports to be a sovereign remedy; panacea
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an underlying principle; quintessence
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a liquid containing a medicinal drug with syrup, glycerine, or alcohol added to mask its unpleasant taste
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
Explanation
Miraculous, magical, and maybe a little mysterious, an elixir is a sweet substance or solution that cures the problem at hand. Elixir is a word often used with a knowing wink — a sort of overstatement of a product's effectiveness, or a decision maker's policy. With linguistic roots in the long-ago alchemists' search for the philosophers' stone, the word has an element of fantasy to spice up anything, like a remedy for the common cold. The mythic fountain of youth is certainly an elixir, but it can also refer to a real liquid, concept, or plan.
Vocabulary lists containing elixir
"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin
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English Words Derived from Arabic
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The Alchemist
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Elixir is also seeking to put more production personnel to work in Los Angeles.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 23, 2025
Elixir enters a booming space in the YouTube marketplace: online dating shows.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 23, 2025
It will be performed as part of the Elixir Festival, which challenges perceptions around dance and age.
From BBC • Apr. 6, 2024
Shedding Elixir was part of a plan Rite Aid worked out before it filed for bankruptcy.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 13, 2024
It was said that he was more than two hundred years old, and that he had discovered the Philosopher’s Stone and the Elixir of Life.
From "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
