Potion

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈpəʊ.ʃən/

Definitions

1. A liquid mixture believed to have magical, medicinal, or poisonous properties when consumed
2. A concoction of liquid that is thought to possess magical or therapeutic effects, or to act as a poison when ingested
3. A mixture in a liquid form that is regarded as having enchanting or healing abilities, or being toxic upon consumption

Etymology: The most surprising thing about this word is how close it sits to "poison," which came from the same Latin source. Both descend from Latin "pōtiō," meaning "a drinking," from "pōtāre," "to drink." In that sense, a potion is simply a dose of something to be swallowed, and whether it healed or harmed depended on the dose and the drinker. English "poison" arrived through Old French "poison," the same root, and kept the sense of a harmful drink, while "potion" passed through Middle English "pocioun" and settled on the idea of a magical or medicinal brew. Before "potion" took over, English speakers had a native word for the same idea. Old English "drenċ" meant a drink, especially one given to a person or animal as medicine, and it survives today as "drench." The Latin-derived term displaced it, so the English word for a drink to be swallowed now lives on mostly in the sense of soaking something thoroughly.

Synonyms: elixir, brew, concoction, liquid, mixture

Antonyms: poison, toxin, venom, disease, harm