elixir

/ɪˈlɪksər/

/ɛˈlɪksɪə/

Other forms: elixirs

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.

Definitions of elixir

1. noun

   a substance believed to cure all ills
   types:

   elixir of life

   a hypothetical substance believed to maintain life indefinitely; once sought by alchemists

   type of:

   catholicon, cure-all, nostrum, panacea

   hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases; once sought by the alchemists

   potion

   a medicinal or magical or poisonous beverage
2. noun

   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
   type of:

   liquid

   fluid matter having no fixed shape but a fixed volume
3. noun

   hypothetical substance that the alchemists believed to be capable of changing base metals into gold
   synonyms: philosopher's stone, philosophers' stone

   type of:

   substance

   a particular kind or species of matter with uniform properties