English
alkahest
Alkahest comes from Late Latin alcahest.
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEalcahest
- Englishearliest quotation 2006alkahest
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEalcahest
- Englishearliest quotation 2006alkahest
Earliest quotation: 2006, Philip Ball, The Devil's Doctor: “This perspective stimulated the alchemical quest for a ‘universal…”
The story
Borrowed from Late Latin alcahest, apparently coined by Paracelsus as a pseudo-Arabism.
Every English word from Late Latin alcahest
Today it means
noun A universal solvent sought by the alchemists.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Late Latin alcahest / alkahest