, in medieval Latin Alembic, is the name for that part of the distilling apparatus which is also called "head" or "cap". The word was borrowed from Greek ἄμβιξ. Al-anbīḳ occurs as early as the 10th century in a translation of Dioscorides, in the Mafātīḥ al-ʿUlūm and in al-Rāzī. The anbīḳ is often referred to as "one of the apparatuses used in distilling rose-water".

The complete distilling apparatus consists of three parts: the "cucurbit" ( ḳarʿa ), the "head" or "cap" (anbīḳ) and the "receiver" ( ḳābila ). Modern retorts have the "cap" and the "cucurbit" made into one. —Illustra…