Alkahest

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Alkahest \Al"ka*hest\, n. [LL. alchahest, F. alcahest, a word
     that has an Arabic appearance, but was probably arbitrarily
     formed by Paracelsus.]
     The fabled "universal solvent" of the alchemists; a menstruum
     capable of dissolving all bodies. -- {Al`ka*hes"tic}, a.
     [1913 Webster]



From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  alkahest
       n : hypothetical universal solvent once sought by alchemists
           [syn: {alcahest}, {universal solvent}]