alchemist
Americannoun
-
alchemists
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of alchemist
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English alkamist, probably from Medieval Latin alchymista, equivalent to alchym(ia) alchemy + -ista -ist
Explanation
If you're an alchemist, then you try to change common metals into gold. People have been trying to figure that out for a long time, so you might need to have another job to finance your career as an alchemist. The word alchemist comes from alchemy, which has origins in the Greek word khemeia, meaning "art of transmuting metals." Active since ancient times, alchemists could be considered very early chemists because of their work trying to transform base metals into gold. Alchemists could also be considered wizards because they attempted to make special elixirs that would give everlasting life and cure sickness.
Vocabulary lists containing alchemist
The Alchemist
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The Cardboard Kingdom
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"The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair (excerpt)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Outside, it was a cold November evening, but inside the West End venue, Mulatu was bathed in the warm embrace of a crowd eager to get one last glimpse of this alchemist at work.
From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2025
The Nuton name plays on Isaac Newton, the alchemist, as well as the hunt for “a new ton” of copper, which had become elusive via deal or discovery, Burley said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 2, 2025
A self-proclaimed alchemist, Williams specializes in transforming wet soil into hardened sculptures that typically live outdoors, where the wind carries seedlings that may attach to the artist’s creations and bloom.
From New York Times ● Mar. 22, 2024
Whoever can turn it invisible by bending light around it will change warfare just as dramatically as the Chinese alchemist 900 years ago who was looking for the elixir of life and discovered gunpowder.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2024
As for said alchemist, if he was having any luck with his alkahest, he was keeping it as much a secret as his key ingredient.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Whereas the alchemists of old sought ways to turn base metals into gold, I am transforming a precious metal into gifts for the most important people in my life, family members both past and present.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Astrologers consult a national zodiac, palm readers ring pagodas, would-be alchemists attempt to transmute mercury into gold and SIM card companies advertise dial-a-diviners.
From Barron's ● Dec. 21, 2025
Financially speaking, the wellness industry has finally succeeded where centuries of alchemists failed: turning magnesium into gold.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2024
Transforming base materials into gold was one of the elusive goals of the alchemists of yore.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 29, 2024
“And what went wrong when other alchemists tried to make gold and were unable to do so?”
From "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
