Pronounced: KRAP-yuh-luhs, adj
Notes: Not what one might think
Yesterday’s word
The word alembic means
- an apparatus formerly used in distilling
- something that refines, purifies, or transforms
First usage
This word came into English in the early7 1400s
Background / Comments
I cannot recall ever hearing or reading of a still called an alembic, but the word has made quite a journey into English. It came to us from Old French, and it came there from the Latin word alembicus, which comes the the Arabic word al-anbiq (the still), which itself came from the Greek word ambix (cup).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 