Medicine & BodyGreek → English
Elixir
/ɪˈlɪksər/noun
A liquid preparation credited with curing or transforming, and in pharmacy a sweetened medicinal solution.
The Greek roots
ξηρίον
xēríon
drying powder for wounds
ξηρός
xērós
dry
Literally: “the dry powder”
The story of the word
The l at the front is not Greek at all. Arabic took ξηρίον, a powder for drying wounds, as al-iksīr and applied it to the substance that would turn base metal into gold; Latin alchemists then borrowed the whole thing, definite article included. The adjective behind it, ξηρός, dry, is the same one in xerography, dry writing, and in the trade name Xerox.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Arabic → Medieval Latin → English
- First recorded
- 14th century
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
xerographyxerophyteXerox
In a sentence
Every century sells its own elixir of youth, usually at a premium.