chemistry

American  

[kem-uh-stree] / ˈkɛm ə stri /

noun

• chemistries
  plural

1. the science that deals with the composition and properties of substances and various elementary forms of matter.

2. chemical properties, reactions, phenomena, etc..

   the chemistry of carbon.

3. the interaction of one personality with another.

   The chemistry between him and his boss was all wrong.

4. sympathetic understanding; rapport.

   the astonishing chemistry between the actors.

5. any or all of the elements that make up something.

   the chemistry of love.

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chemistry British  

/ ˈkɛmɪstrɪ /

noun

1. the branch of physical science concerned with the composition, properties, and reactions of substances See also inorganic chemistry organic chemistry physical chemistry

2. the composition, properties, and reactions of a particular substance

3. the nature and effects of any complex phenomenon

   the chemistry of humour

4. informal a reaction, taken to be instinctual, between two persons

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chemistry Scientific  

/ kĕm′ĭ-strē /

1. The scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of the chemical elements and the compounds they form.

2. The composition, structure, properties, and reactions of a substance.

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chemistry Cultural  

1. The study of the composition, properties, and reactions of matter, particularly at the level of atoms and molecules.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• chemistries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of chemistry

First recorded in 1590–1600; chemist + -ry; replacing earlier chymistry, chimistry

Explanation

Chemistry is the science that tells us what things and people are made of; for example, that water is really H2O, two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen. Chemistry deals with chemicals and elements, the building blocks of our world. The periodic table, that table of all of earth's basic elements — iron, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, etc. — comes from chemistry. Chemistry explains how atoms attract each other to become molecules. We also use the term to refer to people who are attracted to each other, either as colleagues, friends or romantic partners. Movie reviewers often say that that romantic leads have "great chemistry" — or not.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chemistry chemistries

“Our middle-schoolers take four years of biology, chemistry and physics,” Ms. Moskowitz says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

In June, a top AI and engineering executive, Noam Shazeer, left for OpenAI, while senior researcher John Jumper, who shared the 2024 Nobel Prize in chemistry with Hassabis, jumped to Anthropic.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

Asked to define the magic of their chemistry, Edwards said it was not instantaneous.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

Danny Leigh of the Financial Times awarded the film three stars, external, praising the chemistry between Holland and Zendaya but criticising the film's insistence on falling back on CGI-heavy action sequences.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

“This young man's father,” he said, “was the smartest student in my high school chemistry class!”

From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye

To compete, we have to move beyond lithium-based batteries to novel chemistries.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026

These constraints have intensified the search for alternative battery chemistries that can meet long-term global energy demands.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 13, 2026

There are hundreds of steel chemistries processed dozens of ways to make products suitable for cars, cans, and buildings.

From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2025

Meanwhile, battery safety is improving all the time, with newer systems equipped with improved suppression systems and more fire-resistant battery chemistries.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2025

It had a lot of things in it he couldn’t identify: flowers, chemistries, dusts, winds.

From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury

Related Words

• appeal
• beauty
• charisma
• glamour
• grace
• magic