alkahest

/ˈal.kə.hɛst/

Etymology

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

noun

  1. 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.”