iatrochemistry

[ahy-a-truh-kem-uh-stree, ee-a-]

noun

1. (in the 16th and 17th centuries) the study of chemistry in relation to the physiology, pathology, and treatment of disease.

Other Word Forms

• iatrochemical adjective
• iatrochemically adverb
• iatrochemist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of iatrochemistry¹

1820–30; iatro- + chemistry; compare New Latin iatrochymista, iatrochymicus

Example Sentences

Notwithstanding the false idea which prompted the researches of the alchemists, many advances were made in descriptive chemistry, the metals and their salts receiving much Iatrochemistry. attention, and several of our important acids being discovered.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

The profession was literally ravaged by theories, schools and systems—iatromechanics, iatrochemistry, humoralism, the animism of Stahl, the vitalistic doctrines of Van Helmont and his followers—and into this metaphysical confusion Morgagni came like an old Greek with his clear observation, sensible thinking and ripe scholarship.

Read more on Project Gutenberg