philosopher's stone
A supposed substance able to turn base metals, such as lead or mercury, into gold or…A supposed substance able to turn base metals, such as lead or mercury, into gold or silver, also sometimes claimed to cure any illness (as panacea) or confer immortality (as elixir of life), among other functions.
Meaning
2 sensesA supposed substance able to turn base metals, such as lead or mercury, into gold or silver, also sometimes claimed to cure any illness (as panacea) or confer immortality (as elixir of life), among other functions.
Stein der Weisen
филосо́фский ка́меньfilosófskij kámenʹ
філосо́фський ка́міньfilosófsʹkyj káminʹ
hypothetical substance that the alchemists believed to be capable of changing base metals into gold
A piece of such a substance.
Translations
9 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
A misconstruction of philosophers' stone, from Middle English philosophres ston, a calqueA misconstruction of philosophers' stone, from Middle English philosophres ston, a calque of Latin lapis philosophōrum.
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Forms
plural: philosopher's stonesSynonyms
4 synonyms- hypothetical substance that the alchemists believed to be capable of changing base metals into gold:philosophers' stoneelixir
Word family
5 related wordsSee also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.