chemurgy

[kem-ur-jee, kuh-mur-]

noun

1. a division of applied chemistry concerned with the industrial use of organic substances, especially substances obtained from farm produce, as soybeans or peanuts.

chemurgy

/ ˈkɛmɜːdʒɪ /

noun

1. the branch of chemistry concerned with the industrial use of organic raw materials, esp materials of agricultural origin

Other Word Forms

• chemurgic adjective
• chemurgical adjective
• chemurgically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of chemurgy¹

First recorded in 1930–35; chem- + -urgy

Example Sentences

The term chemurgy didn’t last, but the movement presaged the farm policy of coming decades.

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That same decade, an upstart movement called farm chemurgy emerged.

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Chemurgy was a strange neologism meant to evoke the chemical energy of the farm.

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Chemurgy became a way to reconcile the growing tension between modernity and agrarian tradition.

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The transformation of agricultural byproducts into industrial resources came to be known as chemurgy, a word coined by an organic chemist with Dow Chemical Co.

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