Alchemy

Pronunciation

• US IPA: /ˈæːlkeËŒmiː/

Origin

From Old French alkimie, arquemie (French alchimie), from Medieval Latin alkimia, from Arabic الكيمياء (al-kīmiyā’), ال (al, "the") + from Ancient Greek χημεία or χυμεία originally “a mingling, infusion, juice, liquid, as extracted from gold” and later “alchemy”, perhaps from Χημία (Chēmia, "black earth (ancient name for Egypt)") and/or χυμός (chymos, "juice, sap"). (Compare Spanish alquimia and Italian alchimia).

Full definition of alchemy

Noun

1. (uncountable) The ancient search for a universal panacea, and of the philosopher's stone, that eventually developed into chemistry.
2. (countable) The causing of any sort of mysterious sudden transmutation.
3. (computing, slang, countable) Any elaborate transformation process or algorithm.

Derived terms

• alchemical
• alchemise and alchemize
• alchemist
• alchemistic
• alchemistical