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  • philosophers' stone
    philosophers' stone
    noun
    a substance sought by alchemists that would be capable of transmuting baser metals into gold or silver and of prolonging life.
  • philosopher's stone
    philosopher's stone
    noun
    a stone or substance thought by alchemists to be capable of transmuting base metals into gold
Synonyms

philosophers' stone

American  
Or philosopher's stone

noun

Alchemy.
  1. a substance sought by alchemists that would be capable of transmuting baser metals into gold or silver and of prolonging life.


philosopher's stone British  

noun

  1. a stone or substance thought by alchemists to be capable of transmuting base metals into gold

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

philosopher's stone Cultural  
  1. The stone or material that practitioners of alchemy believed capable of changing other metals into gold.


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Figuratively, the “philosopher's stone” is a substance thought to be capable of regenerating man spiritually.

Etymology

Origin of philosophers' stone

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400

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.

The philosophers stone were better in my opinion.

From A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 2 by Bullen, A. H. (Arthur Henry)