Meaning

noun a sweet flavored liquid (usually containing a small amount of alcohol) used in compounding medicines to be taken by mouth in order to mask an unpleasant taste

noun hypothetical substance that the alchemists believed to be capable of changing base metals into gold

noun a substance believed to cure all ills

originFrom Medieval Latin elixir (“philosopher's stone”), from Arabic اَلْإِكْسِير (al-ʔiksīr, “philosopher's stone”), from Ancient Greek ξηρίον (xēríon, “powder for drying wounds”), from ξηρός (xērós, “dry”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0