# philosopher's stone

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. A supposed substance able to turn base metals, such as lead or mercury, into gold or silver, also sometimes claimed to cure any illness (as panacea) or confer immortality (as elixir of life), among other functions.
2. A piece of such a substance.

## Etymology
A misconstruction of philosophers' stone, from Middle English philosophres ston, a calque of Latin lapis philosophōrum.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/philosopher-s-stone