elixir
/ɪˈlɪksə(ɹ)/noun
elixir is spelled E-L-I-X-I-R. The wrong spelling people search most is elixer: about 680 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 2 in 10 of all searches for the word. Elixir is a noun meaning “A liquid which converts lead to gold”. The plural of elixir is elixirs.
How many letters and syllables are in elixir?
| Letters | 6: E-L-I-X-I-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 23,536th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, elixer, about 680 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell elixir?
Elixir is spelled E-L-I-X-I-R. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 2 in 10 of the searches for elixir in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is elixir?
Elixir appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,536th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce elixir?
- /ɪˈlɪksə(ɹ)/
- /ə-/
- /-ɪə(ɹ)/
Elixir has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-elixir.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of elixir
- elixirs plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does elixir mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A liquid which converts lead to gold.
- 2
A substance or liquid which is believed to cure all ills and give eternal life.
- 3
The alleged cure for all ailments; cure-all, panacea.
- 4
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Elixir in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Elixier , Zaubertrunk, Heilmittel |
| Portuguese | elixir |
| Spanish | elixir, elíxir |
| French | élixir |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does elixir come from?
From 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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).