different between elixir vs remedy

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin elixir, from Arabic ????????????? (al-?iks?r), from Ancient Greek ?????? (x?ríon, “medicinal powder”), from ????? (x?rós, “dry”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??l?ks?(?)/, /?-/, /-??(?)/
• Rhymes: -?ks?(?)

Noun

elixir (plural elixirs)

1. (alchemy) A liquid which converts lead to gold.
   • 2002, Philip Ball, The Elements: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford 2004, p. 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, The Boston Globe, Steven Pinker, The moral imperative for bioethics:

     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

• elixir of life

Translations

Asturian

Verb

elixir

1. to choose
2. to elect

Synonyms

• escoyer

Dutch

Etymology

From Medieval Latin elixir, from Arabic ????????????? (al-?iks?r), from Ancient Greek ?????? (x?ríon, “medicinal powder”), from ????? (x?rós, “dry”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?e??l?k.s?r/, /?e??l?k.s?r/
• Hyphenation: elixir

Noun

elixir n (plural elixirs, diminutive elixirtje n)

1. Alternative form of elixer

Derived terms

• maagelixir

Galician

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin eligo. Doublet of esleer.

Compare Portuguese eleger and Spanish elegir.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?.li.??i?]

Verb

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

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

Etymology 2

From Medieval Latin elixir, from Arabic ????????????? (al-?iks?r), from Ancient Greek ?????? (x?ríon, “medicinal powder”), from ????? (x?rós, “dry”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?.lik.?si?]

Noun

elixir m (plural elixires)

1. elixir

References

• “eligir” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006-2012.
• “elig” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
• “elexir” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006-2013.
• “elixir” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “elixir” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Portuguese

Noun

elixir m (plural elixires)

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

Romanian

Etymology

From French élixir

Noun

elixir n (plural elixire)

1. elixir

Declension

Spanish

Noun

elixir m (plural elixires)

1. Alternative spelling of elíxir

English

Etymology

From Middle English remedie, from Old French *remedie, remede, from Latin remedium (“a remedy, cure”), from re- (“again”) + mederi (“to heal”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???m?di/
• Hyphenation: rem?e?dy

Noun

remedy (plural remedies)

1. Something that corrects or counteracts.
2. (law) The legal means to recover a right or to prevent or obtain redress for a wrong.
3. A medicine, application, or treatment that relieves or cures a disease.
   • 1856: Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part III Chapter X, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling

     He said to himself that no doubt they would save her; the doctors would discover some remedy surely. He remembered all the miraculous cures he had been told about. Then she appeared to him dead. She was there; before his eyes, lying on her back in the middle of the road. He reined up, and the hallucination disappeared.

4. The accepted tolerance or deviation in fineness or weight in the production of gold coins etc.

Synonyms

• (Scottish contexts): remeid

Derived terms

• home remedy
• remediless

Translations

Verb

remedy (third-person singular simple present remedies, present participle remedying, simple past and past participle remedied)

1. (transitive) To provide or serve as a remedy for.
   • 1748. David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 27.

     Nor is geometry, when taken into the assistance of natural philosophy, ever able to remedy this defect,

Synonyms

• redress
• help
• correct
• cure
• See also Thesaurus:repair

Translations

Related terms

• remediable
• remedial

Further reading

• remedy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• remedy in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• remedy at OneLook Dictionary Search