alchemy
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From Old French alkemie, arquemie (French alchimie) < Mediaeval Latin alkimia < Arabic الكيمياء (al-kīmiyā’) < article al +Ancient Greek χημεία or χυμεία (chēmeia or chymeia) originally “a mingling, infusion, juice, liquid, especially as extracted from plants” 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).
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
alchemy (countable and uncountable; plural alchemies)
- (obsolete, uncountable) The ancient search for a universal panacea, and of the philosopher's stone, that eventually developed into chemistry
- (countable) The causing of any sort of mysterious sudden transmutation.
- (computing, slang, countable) Any elaborate transformation process or algorithm.
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
ancient chemistry
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causing of mysterious transmutation
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Translations to be checked
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- alchemy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- “alchemy” in the Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper, 2001
