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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

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.