elixir

See also: elixír, elíxir, and élixir

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin elixir (“philosopher's stone”), from Arabic اَلْإِكْسِير (al-ʔiksīr, “philosopher's stone”), from Ancient Greek ξηρίον (xēríon, “powder for drying wounds”), from ξηρός (xērós, “dry”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈlɪksə(ɹ)/, /ə-/, /-ɪə(ɹ)/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪksə(ɹ)

Noun

elixir (plural elixirs)

1. (alchemy) A liquid which converts lead to gold.
   • 2002, Philip Ball, The Elements: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, published 2004, page 59:

     For Chinese alchemists, gold held the key to the Elixir, the Eastern equivalent of the Philosopher's Stone.

2. (alchemy) A substance or liquid which is believed to cure all ills and give eternal life.
3. (by extension) The alleged cure for all ailments; cure-all, panacea.
   • 2015 August 1, Steven Pinker, “The moral imperative for bioethics”, in The Boston Globe‎^[1], archived from the original on 3 December 2015:

     The silver-bullet cancer cures of yesterday’s newsmagazine covers, like interferon and angiogenesis inhibitors, disappointed the breathless expectations, as have elixirs such as antioxidants, Vioxx, and hormone replacement therapy.

4. (pharmacy) A sweet flavored liquid (usually containing a small amount of alcohol) used in compounding medicines to be taken by mouth in order to mask an unpleasant taste.
   • 1906, JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, volume 47, pages 872–875:

     The subcommittee's report to the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry shows that the action of somnos is practically identical with that of a 5 per cent elixir of hydrated chloral.

Derived terms

• elixiric
• elixirist
• elixirlike
• elixir of life
• elixir of vitriol
• elixir proprietatis
• elixir vitae

Translations

alchemy: liquid which was believed to turn non-precious metals to gold

• Afrikaans: elikser
• Arabic: إِكْسِير m (ʔiksīr)
• Bulgarian: еликси́р (bg) m (eliksír)
• Catalan: elixir m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鍊金藥 / 炼金药 (liànjīnyào)

• Danish: eliksir c
• Finnish: eliksiiri (fi)
• Georgian: ელექსირი (eleksiri)
• German: Elixier (de) n
• Greek: ελιξήριο (el) n (elixírio)
• Hungarian: elixír (hu)
• Italian: elisir (it) m
• Japanese: エリクサー (erikusā)
• Korean: 엘릭서 (ellikseo)
• Lithuanian: eliksyras m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: eliksir (no) m

  Nynorsk: eliksir m

• Portuguese: elixir (pt) m
• Russian: эликси́р (ru) m (eliksír)
• Spanish: elixir (es) m, elíxir m
• Turkish: iksir (tr)

liquid which is believed to cure all ills

• Afrikaans: elikser, alheilmiddel, panasee
• Bulgarian: еликси́р (bg) m (eliksír)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 仙丹 (zh) (xiāndān), 萬能藥 / 万能药 (wànnéngyào)

• Danish: eliksir c
• Dutch: elixer (nl)
• Finnish: eliksiiri (fi)
• Georgian: ელექსირი (eleksiri)
• German: Elixier (de) n, Zaubertrunk m, Heilmittel (de) n
• Greek: ελιξήριο (el) n (elixírio)
• Hindi: अमृत (hi) m (amŕt)
• Hungarian: elixír (hu)
• Italian: elisir (it) m
• Japanese: 万能薬 (ja) (bannōyaku), 生く薬 (ikugusuri), 生き薬 (ikigusuri)
• Kazakh: сиқырлы сусын (siqyrly susyn)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: eliksir (no) m

  Nynorsk: eliksir m

• Persian: اکسیر (fa) (eksir)
• Polish: eliksir (pl) m
• Portuguese: elixir (pt) m
• Russian: эликси́р (ru) m (eliksír), панаце́я (ru) f (panacéja)
• Scottish Gaelic: brìgh f, ìocshlaint f
• Spanish: elixir (es) m, elíxir m
• Turkish: iksir (tr)

pharmacy: sweet taste-masking liquid

• Afrikaans: elikser
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 酏劑 / 酏剂 (zh) (yǐjì)

• Danish: eliksir c
• Dutch: elixer (nl)
• Finnish: eliksiiri (fi)
• French: élixir (fr) m
• Georgian: ელექსირი (eleksiri)
• German: Elixier (de) n, Heilmittel (de) n
• Greek: ελιξήριο (el) n (elixírio)
• Italian: elisir (it) m
• Japanese: エリクシル (erikushiru), エリキシル (erikishiru)
• Latin: elixir n, elixirium n
• Lithuanian: eliksyras m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: eliksir (no) m

  Nynorsk: eliksir m

• Portuguese: elixir (pt) m
• Russian: эликси́р (ru) m (eliksír)
• Turkish: iksir (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} إِكْسِير (ʔiksīr)
• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} סַם פֶּלֶא, ^{(please verify)} מַרְפֵּא פֶּלֶא,
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 연금술의 영액 (yeon'geumsurui yeong'aek)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} elixir n, ^{(please verify)} elixirium n
• Slovak: ^{(please verify)} elixír m
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} elixir (sv) n

Asturian

Verb

elixir

1. to choose
2. to elect

Synonyms

• escoyer

Dutch

Etymology

From Medieval Latin elixir, from Arabic اَلْإِكْسِير (al-ʔiksīr), from Ancient Greek ξηρίον (xēríon, “medicinal powder”), from ξηρός (xērós, “dry”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌeːˈlɪk.sɪr/, /ˌeːˈlɪk.sər/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: elixir

Noun

elixir n (plural elixirs, diminutive elixirtje n)

1. alternative form of elixer

Derived terms

• maagelixir

Galician

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs

Proto-Italic *eks

Latin ex

Latin ex-

Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-

Proto-Indo-European *-eti

Proto-Indo-European *léǵeti

Proto-Italic *legō

Latin legō

Latin eligo

Galician elixir

Inherited from Latin eligo. Doublet of esleer. Compare Portuguese eleger and Spanish elegir.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɛ.li.ˈʃiɾ]

Verb

elixir (first-person singular present elixo, first-person singular preterite elixín, past participle elixido, short past participle electo)

1. to choose, elect
   • 1418, Á. Rodríguez González (ed.), Libro do Concello de Santiago (1416-1422). Santiago de Compostela: Consello da Cultura Galega, page 85:

     para que dos ditos dose omes o dito señor arçobispo o a quel que seu poder para elo touvese tomase et eligise dous deles que os lle aprovuese et os dese por alcalles enna dita çidade en quel anno

     so that of that twelve men said lord archbishop, or anyone who his power has at the momment, takes and chooses two of them, and that he approves and gives them as mayors of said city for that year

   Synonym: escoller

Conjugation

    Conjugation of elixir (irregular short past participle)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti)	Third-person (el / ela / Vde.)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / Vdes.)
Infinitive
Impersonal	elixir
Personal	elixir	elixires	elixir	elixirmos	elixirdes	elixiren
Gerund
	elixindo
Short past participle
Masculine	electo1			electos1
Feminine	electa1			electas1
Long past participle
Masculine	elixido2			elixidos2
Feminine	elixida2			elixidas2
Indicative
Present	elixo	elixes	elixe	eliximos	elixides	elixen
Imperfect	elixía	elixías	elixía	elixiamos	elixiades	elixían
Preterite	elixín	elixiches	elixiu	eliximos	elixistes	elixiron
Pluperfect	elixira	elixiras	elixira	elixiramos	elixirades	elixiran
Future	elixirei	elixirás	elixirá	elixiremos	elixiredes	elixirán
Conditional	elixiría	elixirías	elixiría	elixiriamos	elixiriades	elixirían
Subjunctive
Present	elixa	elixas	elixa	elixamos	elixades	elixan
Imperfect	elixise	elixises	elixise	elixísemos	elixísedes	elixisen
Future	elixir	elixires	elixir	elixirmos	elixirdes	elixiren
Imperative
Affirmative		elixe	elixa	elixamos	elixide	elixan
Negative (non)		non elixas	non elixa	non elixamos	non elixades	non elixan

¹Usually used with auxiliary verbs ser and estar.
²Usually used with auxiliary verbs haber and ter.

Etymology 2

From Medieval Latin elixir, from Arabic اَلْإِكْسِير (al-ʔiksīr), from Ancient Greek ξηρίον (xēríon, “medicinal powder”), from ξηρός (xērós, “dry”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɛ.lik.ˈsiɾ]

Noun

elixir m (plural elixires)

1. elixir

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “eligir”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “elixir”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “elexir”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “elixir”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “elixir”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Latin

Alternative forms

• elixer, alixir
• elixirium, elixerium (Medieval Latin, New Latin)

Etymology

From Arabic اَلْإِكْسِير (al-ʔiksīr), from Koine Greek ξηρῐ́ον (xērĭ́on, “medicinal powder”, from ξηρός (xērós, “dry”)), ellipsis of ξηρῐ́ον φᾰ́ρμᾰκον (xērĭ́on phắrmăkon, literally “dry powder medicine”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɛˈlɪk.sɪr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [eˈlik.sir]

Noun

elixir n (genitive elixiris); third declension (Medieval Latin, New Latin)

1. (alchemy, pharmacy) elixir

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter; i-stem or pure i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	elixir	elixira elixiria
genitive	elixiris	elixirium
dative	elixirī	elixiribus
accusative	elixir	elixira elixiria
ablative	elixire elixirī	elixiribus
vocative	elixir	elixira elixiria

Descendants

• → Dutch: elixer
• Galician: elixir
• Italian: elisir
• Old French: elixir
  • French: élixir
    • → Polish: eliksir, eliksyr (obsolete), elixir (pre-reform orthography (1816))
    • → Romanian: elixir
  • → Middle English: elixir, elixer
    • English: elixir
• Portuguese: elixir
• Spanish: elixir, elíxir

Polish

Noun

elixir m inan

1. Pre-1816 spelling of eliksir.

Declension

Declension of elixir

	singular	plural
nominative	elixir	elixiry
genitive	elixiru	elixirów
dative	elixirowi	elixirom
accusative	elixir	elixiry
instrumental	elixirem	elixirami
locative	elixirze	elixirach
vocative	elixirze	elixiry

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /e.liˈʃi(ʁ)/ [e.liˈʃi(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /e.liˈʃi(ʁ)/ [e.liˈʃi(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /e.liˈʃi(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /e.liˈʃi(ʁ)/ [e.liˈʃi(χ)]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /e.liˈʃi(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɛ.liˈʃiɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɛ.liˈʃiɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɛ.liˈʃi.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: e‧li‧xir

Noun

elixir m (plural elixires)

1. (alchemy) elixir (liquid which was believed to turn non-precious metals to gold)
2. (fiction) a magical potion

Derived terms

• elixir bucal
• elixir oral

Further reading

• “elixir”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “elixir”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French élixir.

Noun

elixir n (plural elixire)

1. elixir

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	elixir	elixirul	elixire	elixirele
genitive-dative	elixir	elixirului	elixire	elixirelor
vocative	elixirule		elixirelor

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eliɡˈsiɾ/ [e.liɣ̞ˈsiɾ]
• Rhymes: -iɾ
• Syllabification: e‧li‧xir

Noun

elixir m (plural elixires)

1. alternative spelling of elíxir

Further reading

• “elixir”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025