Words - skip - Brewer’s

Aqua Vitæ [water of life]

Certain ardent spirits used by the alchemists. Ben Jonson terms a seller of ardent spirits an “aqua-vitæ man” (Alchemist, i. 1). The “elixir of life” was made from distilled spirits, which were thought to have the power of prolonging life. (See Eau-de-Vie.)

· ·

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.