English

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Noun

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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

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

  1. Alternative spelling of philter

Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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

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