alchemy

[ al-kuh-mee ]

noun

, plural al·che·mies

1. 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.
2. any magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value.
3. any seemingly magical process of transforming or combining elements into something new:

   Through some kind of alchemy he has reinvented himself as a writer.

alchemy

/ ˈælkəmɪ; ælˈkɛmɪk /

noun

1. 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
2. a power like that of alchemy

   her beauty had a potent alchemy

alchemy

/ ăl′kə-mē /

1. 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.

alchemy

1. A science (no longer practiced) that sought to transform one chemical element into another through a combination of magic and primitive chemistry . Alchemy is considered to be the ancestor of modern chemistry.

Notes

The search for the philosopher's stone that would change lead and other base metals into gold was part of alchemy.

Today, alchemy is associated with wizards, magic, and the search for arcane knowledge.

Derived Forms

• alchemic, adjective

Other Words From

• al·chem·ic [al-, kem, -ik], al·chemi·cal al·che·mis·tic [al-k, uh, -, mis, -tik], alche·misti·cal adjective
• al·chemi·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of alchemy¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; earlier alchimie, from Old French alquemie, from Medieval Latin alchymia, from Arabic al “the” + kīmiyā', from Greek chēmeía, chēmía, chymeía “art of alloying metals; alchemy”; replacing Middle English alconomye, equivalent to alk(imie) + (astr)onomye “astronomy” ( astronomy )

Word History and Origins

Origin of alchemy¹

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

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.

Example Sentences

Their work revealed the strange alchemy at work inside the nucleus of an atom.

From Quanta Magazine

Pleasantly chewy, it melts easily on the tongue, a seemingly magical alchemy of sugar and protein.

From Washington Post

There are so many scenes — Majella sitting in her late grandmother’s farmhouse, having sex in the storeroom or recalling a batch of drowned kittens — that feel like literary alchemy.

From Washington Post

Cheesemaking, mankind’s long-­running alchemy of controlled rot, involves transforming perishable milk into something exponentially more complex, long-lasting, and valuable.

From Popular-Science

The result should be an earnest historical novel about the brutal struggle for fair wages, but through the alchemy of Walter’s voice, “The Cold Millions” is a work of irresistible characters, harrowing adventures and rip-roaring fun.

From Washington Post

We remain constantly curious about what great designers will turn out from their capricious artistic alchemy.

From The Daily Beast

There is a sort of alchemy of the masala in some ways, and that journey is parallel to the emotional journey he takes.

From The Daily Beast

He is also a successful author whose 2005 debut The Alchemy of Desire was published to wide acclaim.

From The Daily Beast

Sarah Norris on the alchemy of being young and literary and finding your way in New York.

From The Daily Beast

What will be the alchemy of Cowell, Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi, and Ellen DeGeneres this season?

From The Daily Beast

But a doctor Faustus, in his cell littered with books and instruments of alchemy, would love always to have a cat for a companion.

From Project Gutenberg

It is for them to protect themselves from death,—the whole purpose of alchemy lies there, sire.

From Project Gutenberg

Among his minor works occurs a treatise on alchemy, which seems to show that he was a devout believer in the science.

From Project Gutenberg

But, like so many master-minds of the Middle Ages, he was unable wholly to resist the fascinations of alchemy and astrology.

From Project Gutenberg

The earlier alchemists knew nothing of its theosophic doctrines; and the earlier Rosicrucians did not dabble in alchemy.

From Project Gutenberg