Alkahest

noun

noun ·3 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A universal solvent sought by the alchemists. countable, historical, uncountable

    "This perspective stimulated the alchemical quest for a ‘universal solvent’, that would dissolve and homogenize all substances – a solvent that Paracelsus named the alkahest."

  2. 2
    hypothetical universal solvent once sought by alchemists wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
universal solvent;alcahestfirewater

Example

More examples

"This perspective stimulated the alchemical quest for a ‘universal solvent’, that would dissolve and homogenize all substances – a solvent that Paracelsus named the alkahest."

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin alcahest, apparently coined by Paracelsus, as Pseudo-Arabism.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.