alchemy
[al-kuh-mee]
- a form of chemistry and speculative philosophy practiced in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and concerned principally with discovering methods for transmuting baser metals into gold and with finding a universal solvent and an elixir of life.
- any magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value.
- any seemingly magical process of transforming or combining elements into something new: Through some kind of alchemy he has reinvented himself as a writer.
Origin of alchemy
1325–1375; earlier alchimie < Old French alquemie < Medieval Latin alchymia < Arabic al the + kīmiyā' < Greek kēmeía transmutation; replacing Middle English alconomye, equivalent to alk(imie) + (astr)onomye astronomy
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for alchemistic
Historical Examples
In the second place, we must notice the nature of alchemistic language.
Alchemy: Ancient and ModernH. Stanley Redgrove
The word Baurach occurs in Geber and the other early Alchemistic writings, but there is nothing to prove that it was modern borax.
De Re MetallicaGeorgius Agricola
His views on the primary composition of bodies dominated the alchemistic world for centuries.
De Re MetallicaGeorgius Agricola
He was the author of a large number of mathematical, philosophical, and alchemistic treatises.
De Re MetallicaGeorgius Agricola
If we are ever to understand the meaning of Alchemy aright we must look at the subject from the alchemistic point of view.
Alchemy: Ancient and ModernH. Stanley Redgrove
alchemy
- the pseudoscientific predecessor of chemistry that sought a method of transmuting base metals into gold, an elixir to prolong life indefinitely, a panacea or universal remedy, and an alkahest or universal solvent
- a power like that of alchemyher beauty had a potent alchemy
Word Origin
C14 alkamye, via Old French from Medieval Latin alchimia, from Arabic al-kīmiyā', from al the + kīmiyā' transmutation, from Late Greek khēmeia the art of transmutation
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for alchemistic
alchemy
n.
mid-14c., from Old French alchimie (14c.), alquemie (13c.), from Medieval Latin alkimia, from Arabic al-kimiya, from Greek khemeioa (found c.300 C.E. in a decree of Diocletian against "the old writings of the Egyptians"), all meaning "alchemy." Perhaps from an old name for Egypt (Khemia, literally "land of black earth," found in Plutarch), or from Greek khymatos "that which is poured out," from khein "to pour," related to khymos "juice, sap" [Klein, citing W. Muss-Arnolt, calls this folk etymology]. The word seems to have elements of both origins.
Mahn ... concludes, after an elaborate investigation, that Gr. khymeia was probably the original, being first applied to pharmaceutical chemistry, which was chiefly concerned with juices or infusions of plants; that the pursuits of the Alexandrian alchemists were a subsequent development of chemical study, and that the notoriety of these may have caused the name of the art to be popularly associated with the ancient name of Egypt. [OED]
The al- is the Arabic definite article, "the." The art and the name were adopted by the Arabs from Alexandrians and thence returned to Europe via Spain. Alchemy was the "chemistry" of the Middle Ages and early modern times; since c.1600 the word has been applied distinctively to the pursuit of the transmutation of baser metals into gold, which, along with the search for the universal solvent and the panacea, were the chief occupations of early chemistry.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
alchemy
[ăl′kə-mē]
- A medieval philosophy and early form of chemistry whose aims were the transmutation of base metals into gold, the discovery of a cure for all diseases, and the preparation of a potion that gives eternal youth. The imagined substance capable of turning other metals into gold was called the philosophers' stone.
A Closer Look: Because their goals were so unrealistic, and because they had so little success in achieving them, the practitioners of alchemy in the Middle Ages got a reputation as fakers and con artists. But this reputation is not fully deserved. While they never succeeded in turning lead into gold (one of their main goals), they did make discoveries that helped to shape modern chemistry. Alchemists invented early forms of some of the laboratory equipment used today, including beakers, crucibles, filters, and stirring rods. They also discovered and purified a number of chemical elements, including mercury, sulfur, and arsenic. And the methods they developed to separate mixtures and purify compounds by distillation and extraction are still important.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
alchemy
[(al-kuh-mee)]
Note
The search for the philosopher's stone that would change lead and other base metals into gold was part of alchemy.
Note
Today, alchemy is associated with wizards, magic, and the search for arcane knowledge.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.