A still or distillation apparatus used in making alcohol or perfumes, from Spanish or Portuguese terminology.
From Spanish alambique, from Arabic al-anbīq, itself from Greek ambix (cup or vessel). Referred to the alembic, an essential apparatus in medieval and colonial alchemy.
The Arabic 'alambique' shows how Islamic alchemy shaped European science—Muslims invented the still, and the word traveled to Spain during medieval times, then to all of Europe!
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