Word.ws English Dictionary

alkahest

UK/ˈal.kə.hɛst/

alkahest noun: a universal solvent sought by the alchemists.

Noun

alkahest (countable and uncountable, plural alkahests)

  1. (historical) A universal solvent sought by the alchemists.
    • This perspective stimulated the alchemical quest for a ‘universal solvent’, that would dissolve and homogenize all substances – a solvent that Paracelsus named the alkahest.2006, Philip Ball, The Devil's Doctor, Arrow, published 2007, page 267

Synonyms of alkahest

Forms of alkahest

pluralalkahests
alternative formalcahest

Origin of alkahest

Borrowed from Late Latin alcahest, apparently coined by Paracelsus as a pseudo-Arabism.

Words formed from alkahest

Questions about alkahest

What does alkahest mean?
Alkahest means a universal solvent sought by the alchemists.
What part of speech is alkahest?
Alkahest is a noun.
How do you pronounce alkahest?
Alkahest is pronounced /ˈal.kə.hɛst/ (UK).
What is the plural of alkahest?
The plural of alkahest is alkahests.

Words near alkahest in the dictionary

  1. alkadiene
  2. alkadienes
  3. alkadienyl
  4. alkadienyls
  5. alkadiyne
  6. alkahest
  7. alkahestic
  8. alkahestical
  9. alkahests
  10. Alkaid
  11. Alkaios

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: alkahest (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-alkahest.wav.

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