alchemy
/ˈælkəmi/ noun
Forms alchemies
- noun (uncountable) The premodern and early modern study of physical changes, particularly in Europe, Arabia, and China; and chiefly in pursuit of an elixir of immortality, a universal panacea, and/or a philosopher's stone able to transmute base metals into gold, eventually developing into chemistry. “The purpose of physical alchemy—as opposed to its various spiritual pursuits—was to treat the supposed leprosity of base metals such as lead, refining and purifying them into gold.”
- noun (countable) The causing of any sort of mysterious sudden transmutation.
- noun (computing, slang, countable) Any elaborate transformation process or algorithm.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Old French alkimie, arquemie (French alchimie), from Medieval Latin alchēmia, from Arabic اَلْكِيمِيَاء (al-kīmiyāʔ), from Ancient Greek χυμείᾱ (khumeíā, “art of alloying metals”), from χύμα (khúma, “ingot, bar”). Compare Spanish alquimia and Italian alchimia.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An imaginary art which aimed to transmute the baser metals into gold, to find the panacea, or universal remedy for diseases, etc. It led the way to modern chemistry.
- noun A mixed metal composed mainly of brass, formerly used for various utensils; hence, a trumpet. [Obs.]
Etymology [OF. alkemie, arquemie, F. alchimie, Ar. al- kimia, fr. late Gr. alquimia, It. alchimia. Gr. fundere to pour, Goth. guitan, AS. geótan, to pour, and so to E. fuse. See Fuse, and cf. Chemistry.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “alchemy”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details