Definition

Noun: 1. An obsolete kind of container used for distillation; two retorts connected by a tube: An alembic is an ancient apparatus, often made of glass or metal, used in alchemy and early chemistry for the process of distillation, typically to purify liquids or separate substances.

Examples of Usage

• The ancient alchemist carefully heated the mixture in the alembic, hoping to extract the essential spirit of the substance.
• Museums of science history often display an alembic as a key instrument from the early days of chemistry.
• The poet used the alembic as a metaphor for the mind's ability to refine raw experience into pure thought.

Advanced Usage

• Figurative Use: The word is often used metaphorically to describe anything that refines, purifies, or transforms something in a fundamental way.
  • Time is the great alembic, turning the raw events of history into distilled wisdom.
  • Her grief passed through the alembic of her art and emerged as beautiful music.

Variants and Related Words

• Limbec (noun): An archaic variant spelling of "alembic."
• Distillation (noun): The process of purifying a liquid by heating and cooling, for which an alembic was used.
• Retort (noun): A glass container with a long neck, used in distillation; an alembic typically consists of two connected retorts.
• Aludel (noun): A pear-shaped pot used in conjunction with an alembic in sublimation processes.

Synonyms

• Still (noun): A modern apparatus for distillation.
• Distilling vessel (noun phrase): A general term for equipment used in distillation.

Notes on Meaning

The primary meaning of "alembic" is historical and technical, referring to a specific piece of obsolete laboratory equipment. Its contemporary use is almost exclusively literary or metaphorical, evoking ideas of transformation, purification, and the mystical processes of alchemy. It is not used to describe modern distillation equipment.

Noun

1. an obsolete kind of container used for distillation; two retorts connected by a tube