To distill or purify using an alembic (a distillation apparatus), often used metaphorically for refining ideas or language.
From 'alembic' (a distillation vessel from Arabic 'al-anbiq') + the verb suffix '-ate,' meaning to subject something to the alembic's purifying process.
Alchemists used alembics to chase gold, but the word became metaphorical—we still 'alembicate' language when we carefully refine our writing until only the essentials remain!
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