Dictionary entry

Alkahest

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Al″ka‐hest (�), n. [LL. alchahest, F. alcahest, a word that has an Arabic appearance, but was probably arbitrarily formed by Paracelsus.] The fabled “universal solvent” of the alchemists; a menstruum capable of dissolving all bodies. — Al′ka‐hes″tic (�), a.