PANACEA

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Panacea mean? 

• PANACEA (noun)
  The noun PANACEA has 2 senses:

1. (Greek mythology) the goddess of healing; daughter of Aesculapius and sister of Hygeia

2. hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases; once sought by the alchemists

  Familiarity information: PANACEA used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PANACEA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(Greek mythology) the goddess of healing; daughter of Aesculapius and sister of Hygeia

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

Greek deity (a deity worshipped by the ancient Greeks)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases; once sought by the alchemists

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

catholicon; cure-all; nostrum; panacea

Hypernyms ("panacea" is a kind of...):

curative; cure; remedy; therapeutic (a medicine or therapy that cures disease or relieve pain)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "panacea"):

elixir (a substance believed to cure all ills)

 Context examples 

Poor Hannah was the first to recover, and with unconscious wisdom she set all the rest a good example, for with her, work was panacea for most afflictions.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)