philtre

English

Noun

philtre (plural philtres)

1. Alternative spelling of philter (“kind of potion”)
   • 1908, Theodore Chickering Williams, transl., “On His Lady's Avarice”, in The Elegies of Tibullus‎^[1], translation of original by Tibullus:

     […] Bring hippomanes, / Fierce philtre from the frantic, brooding mare!

   • 1909, Charles Baudelaire, “The Irreparable”, in John Collings Squire, transl., Poems and Baudelaire Flowers:

     What wine, what drug, what philtre known of man / Will drown this ancient foe, / Ruthless and ravenous as a courtesan, / Sure as an ant, and slow?

   • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 65:

     Old witches in the cities and country-side throve upon the sale of death spells and love philtres. They also made a trade of abortificants, and frequently practised the whiles of the procuress.

Verb

philtre (third-person singular simple present philtres, present participle philtring, simple past and past participle philtred)

1. Alternative spelling of philter

Anagrams

• philter

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin philtrum, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek φίλτρον (phíltron). Unrelated to filtre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /filtʁ/
• Homophone: filtre

Noun

philtre m (plural philtres)

1. philter (a kind of potion, charm, or drug intended to make the drinker fall in love with the giver)
   • 1857, Charles Baudelaire, “L'Irréparable”, in John Collings Squire, transl., Les Fleurs du mal:

     Dans quel philtre, dans quel vin, dans quelle tisane, / Noierons-nous ce vieil ennemi, / Destructeur et gourmand comme la courtisane, / Patient comme la fourmi?

     What wine, what drug, what philtre known of man / Will drown this ancient foe, / Ruthless and ravenous as a courtesan, / Sure as an ant, and slow?

Further reading

• “philtre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.