| 释义 |
alkahest|ˈælkəhɛst|
Also alc-, alch-.
[first used in med.L. by Paracelsus, and believed to have been arbitrarily invented by him with a form simulating Arabic. Used in the same forms in most of the European languages.]
The ‘universal solvent’ of the alchemists.
1641French Distill. v. 109 With his Alkahest [printed Altahest] all stones..may be turned into water. 1657G. Starkey Helmont's Vind. 294 There are noble Arcana's in Nature preparable by the great Dissolvent, the liquor Alchahest. 1705W. Worth Compl. Distiller 243 The great Hilech..of Paracelsus, called by his great Interpreter Van Helmont, Alkahest, from the German word Al-gehest, which signifies All Spirit. 1812Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 323 The alkahest, or universal solvent imagined by the alchemists.
b. fig.
1832Carlyle Misc. (1857) III. 167 Quite another alcahest is needed. 1866Alger Solit. Nat. & Man iv. 351 An intellectual alkahest, melting the universe into an idea. |