Meaning & use
elixir of life
Last updated
Meanings
nounsingularliterary
In old stories and alchemy, a magical liquid believed to keep someone alive forever or to restore youth.
Grammar: Used with "the" and treated as one thing; it has no plural form.
Patterns
- the elixir of life
- search for the elixir of life
- find the elixir of life
Medieval alchemists spent years trying to make the elixir of life.
In the legend, whoever drinks the elixir of life never grows old.
nounsingularfigurative
Something that seems to give new energy, health, or lasting success to a person or organization.
Grammar: Figurative use; still takes "the" and stays singular.
Patterns
- the elixir of life for someone
- be the elixir of life
For the struggling town, the new railway was the elixir of life.
She calls music the elixir of life, the one thing that always lifts her mood.
Common combinations
- search for the elixir of life
- Explorers in the story search for the elixir of life in distant mountains.
- the secret of the elixir of life
- The old manuscript claims to reveal the secret of the elixir of life.
- drink the elixir of life
- In the tale, only the youngest prince is allowed to drink the elixir of life.
- the elixir of life for something
- Good teachers are the elixir of life for any school system.
- a modern elixir of life
- Some advertisers sell their vitamin drink as a modern elixir of life.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fountain of youth
- A legendary spring that restores youth rather than a drink; it is a place, not a liquid.
- panacea
- A cure for every illness or problem; it stresses solving all problems, not giving endless life.
- miracle cure
- Everyday phrase for a treatment that works amazingly well; it has no magical or eternal-life idea.
Word family
Commonly confused: elixir of life or elixir? elixir of life or potion?
elixir of life vs elixir
On its own, elixir is any sweet medicinal or magical liquid; the full phrase elixir of life means specifically a liquid that gives endless life.
elixir of life vs potion
A potion is any magical drink in stories and can harm as well as help; the elixir of life is always about living forever.
Practice
In the novel, the wizard guards a bottle that he calls the elixir of life. What does the bottle supposedly contain?
Choose one answer.
The elixir of life is a legendary liquid said to give endless life or lasting youth, so option 0 fits. A poison or a cold remedy is just an ordinary drink, and a map is not a liquid at all.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “elixir of life”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.