Alch. Forms: 5 azot, 7 azoch, 7–9 azoth. [Corruption (ultimately) of Arab. az-zāūq: see ASSOGUE. Cf. F. azoth, Sp. azogue.] a. The alchemists’ name for mercury, as the essential first principle of all metals. b. The universal remedy of Paracelsus. Also fig.
1477. Norton, Ord. Alch., v. in Ashm. (1652), 77. With Water of Azot to make lac virginis.
1610. B. Jonson, Alch., II. iii. Your lato, azoch, zernich.
1655. T. Vaughan, Euphrates, 105. That glassie Azoth of Lullie.
1751. Chambers, Cycl., s.v., Paracelsus’s azoth … is pretended to have been a preparation of gold, silver, and mercury.
1835. Browning, Paracels., v. Wks. 1883, I. 183. Last, my good sword; ah, trusty Azoth, leapest Beneath thy master’s grasp for the last time?
