Alkahests

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈal.kə.hɛsts/

Definitions

1. A mythical substance believed to have the ability to dissolve all materials into their basic components
2. An alchemical term referring to a universal solvent that can transform base metals into noble ones
3. A legendary agent sought by alchemists for its supposed power to purify and transmute substances

Etymology: "Alkahest" was the name Paracelsus, the 16th-century Swiss physician and alchemist, gave to a universal solvent he believed could dissolve any substance. The term appears to be his invention, dressed up to look Arabic. Its first element resembles the Arabic definite article "al-", and the ending may echo a Greek-sounding "-hest," so the coinage gave an air of ancient, eastern learning to a German-speaking Swiss physician's theory. The word then passed into Late Latin as "alcahest," and from there into the vocabulary of alchemy, where the solvent became the hoped-for key to transmuting matter. Because a universal solvent would dissolve any container, the idea posed an obvious puzzle: what vessel could hold it? Alchemists debated this in print for centuries, which is why the word survives mainly in older scientific writing rather than everyday speech. The plural "alkahests" is simply the form used when referring to more than one such solvent, or to the concept generally. Its singular, "alkahest," is the form the word takes in all the sources that describe Paracelsus's claim.

Synonyms: universal solvent