panacea

See also: Panacea

English

WOTD – 15 November 2007

Alternative forms

• panacaea
• panacæa

Etymology

From Latin panacēa, from Ancient Greek πανάκεια (panákeia), from πανακής (panakḗs, “all-healing”), from πᾶν (pân, “all”) (equivalent to English pan-) ἄκος (ákos, “cure”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: păn'-ə-sēʹ-ə, IPA^(key): /ˌpæn.əˈsiː.ə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːə

Noun

panacea (plural panaceas or panaceae or panaceæ)

1. A remedy believed to cure all disease and prolong life that was originally sought by alchemists; a cure-all.

   Synonym: heal-all

2. A solution to all problems.

   A monorail will be a panacea for our traffic woes.

   • 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXVII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 53:

     When busy he was better, and appeared to think perpetual motion a panacea for his unnamed and un-nameable complaint; and so much were they hurried from place to place, after their arrival at Genoa, that both sisters were thankful when they embarked again, as the sea appeared a resting-place...

   • 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 206:

     Podson was seated on the bed, going through such turf forecasts as he could find in the papers; his panacea for correcting the mistakes of fortune.

   • 2023 January 11, “Network News: MPs seek clarity on hydrogen's role”, in RAIL, number 974, page 13:

     Hydrogen is not a panacea for reaching the zero net emissions target by 2050, but it can grow to become "a big niche" fuel in particular sectors and applications, claims a new report.

3. (obsolete) The plant allheal (Valeriana officinalis), believed to cure all ills.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     There, whether it diuine Tobacco were, / Or Panachæa, or Polygony, / She found, and brought it to her patient deare […]

Synonyms

• (remedy to cure all disease): catholicon, cure-all, elixir, wonder drug, miracle cure, theriac, balm of Gilead
• (solution to all problems): miracle, magic bullet, silver bullet
• (plant): allheal, woundwort

Hyponyms

• (remedy to cure all disease): See mithridate and theriac (universal antidotes)

Translations

remedy believed to cure all disease

• Arabic: تِرْيَاق m (tiryāq)

  Egyptian Arabic: ترياق m (teryaʔ)

  North Levantine Arabic: ترياق m (teryaʔ)

• Armenian: համադարման (hy) (hamadarman)
• Belarusian: панацэ́я f (panacéja)
• Bulgarian: панаце́я f (panacéja)
• Catalan: panacea (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 萬應藥／万应药 (wànyìngyào), 萬應靈藥／万应灵药 (wànyìnglíngyào), 靈丹妙藥／灵丹妙药 (zh) (língdānmiàoyào)

• Czech: všelék m, panacea (cs) f
• Dutch: panacee (nl) f
• Estonian: panatsea
• Finnish: yleislääke, ihmelääke
• French: panacée (fr) f
• Georgian: პანაცეა (ka) (ṗanacea)
• German: Allheilmittel (de) n, (rare, elevated) Panazee (de) f
• Greek: πανάκεια (el) f (panákeia)

  Ancient: πανάκεια f (panákeia)

• Hindi: रामबाण (hi) m (rāmbāṇ), महौषधि (hi) f (mahauṣdhi)
• Hungarian: csodaszer (hu)
• Icelandic: undralyf n, kynjalyf
• Indonesian: panasea (id)
• Italian: panacea (it) f, toccasana (it) m, triaca f
• Japanese: 万能薬 (ばんのうやく, bannōyaku)
• Korean: 만병통치약(萬病通治藥) (ko) (manbyeongtongchiyak)
• Latin: panacēa f
• Latvian: panaceja f
• Lithuanian: panacėja (lt) f
• Macedonian: панаце́ја f (panacéja)
• Persian: نوش‌دارو (fa) (nuš-dâru), انوش‌دارو (anuš-dâru)
• Polish: panaceum (pl) n
• Portuguese: panaceia (pt) f
• Romanian: panaceu (ro) n
• Russian: панаце́я (ru) f (panacéja)
• Scottish Gaelic: uil-ìoc m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: панаце́ја f

  Roman: panacéja (sh) f

• Slovak: všeliek m
• Slovene: panaceja f
• Spanish: panacea (es) f, curalotodo m
• Swedish: patentmedicin, panace c, universalmedicin, universalläkemedel (sv) n, panacé (sv) c, universalmedel (sv) n, mirakelkur c
• Thai: ยาแก้สรรพโรค (yaa-gɛ̂ɛ-sàp-pá-rôok), ยาระงับสรรพโรค (yaa-rá-ngáp-sàp-pá-rôok), ยาครอบจักรวาล (yaa-krɔ̂ɔp-jàk-grà-waan)
• Ukrainian: панаце́я f (panacéja)
• Yiddish: אַלהיילער m (alheyler)

solution to all problems

• Catalan: panacea (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 靈丹妙藥／灵丹妙药 (zh) (língdānmiàoyào)

• Czech: všelék m
• Dutch: wondermiddel (nl) n
• Finnish: yleislääke, ihmelääke, ihmeratkaisu
• French: panacée (fr) f
• German: Allheilmittel (de) n, Patentrezept (de) n
• Icelandic: allra meina bót f, töfraformúla
• Italian: panacea (it) f
• Polish: panaceum (pl) n
• Portuguese: panaceia (pt) f
• Russian: панаце́я (ru) f (panacéja)
• Spanish: panacea (es) f, mano de santo m
• Swedish: panace, universalmedel (sv), patentlösning
• Ukrainian: панаце́я f (panacéja)
• Welsh: ateb (cy) m

particular plant

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 纈草／缬草 (zh) (xiécǎo)

• Finnish: panacea (fi)
• Latin: panacēa f
• Scottish Gaelic: uil-ìoc m

See also

• nostrum

Catalan

Etymology

From Learned borrowing from Latin panacēa, from Ancient Greek πανάκεια (panákeia), from πανακής (panakḗs, “all-healing”), from πᾶν (pân, “all”) ἄκος (ákos, “cure”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [pə.nəˈse.ə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [pa.naˈse.a]

Noun

panacea f (plural panacees)

1. panacea

Further reading

• “panacea” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Italian

Etymology

From Latin panacēa, from Ancient Greek πανάκεια (panákeia), from πανακής (panakḗs, “all-healing”), from πᾶν (pân, “all”) ἄκος (ákos, “cure”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pa.naˈt͡ʃɛ.a/
• Rhymes: -ɛa
• Hyphenation: pa‧na‧cè‧a

Noun

panacea f (plural panacee)

1. panacea, cure-all

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πανάκεια (panákeia) from πανακής (panakḗs, “all-healing”), from πᾶν (pân, “all”) ἄκος (ákos, “cure”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /pa.naˈkeː.a/, [pänäˈkeːä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /pa.naˈt͡ʃe.a/, [pänäˈt͡ʃɛːä]

Noun

panacēa f (genitive panacēae); first declension

1. A particular kind of plant, believed to cure all diseases.
2. panacea, catholicon.

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	panacēa	panacēae
genitive	panacēae	panacēārum
dative	panacēae	panacēīs
accusative	panacēam	panacēās
ablative	panacēā	panacēīs
vocative	panacēa	panacēae

Derived terms

• panacinus

Descendants

• Catalan: panacea
• English: panacea
• French: panacée
• Italian: panacea
• Portuguese: panaceia
• Spanish: panacea

References

• “panacea”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “panacea”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• panacea in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “panacea”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin panacēa, Ancient Greek πανάκεια (panákeia), from πανακής (panakḗs, “all-healing”), from πᾶν (pân, “all”) ἄκος (ákos, “cure”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /panaˈθea/ [pa.naˈθe.a]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /panaˈsea/ [pa.naˈse.a]
• Rhymes: -ea
• Syllabification: pa‧na‧ce‧a

Noun

panacea f (plural panaceas)

1. panacea

Further reading

• “panacea”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28