Alchemies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The processes involved in transforming base materials into precious substances, often associated with magic or chemistry
2. The mystical art that seeks to achieve transformation or the generation of a philosopher's stone and immortality
3. Established practices in historical contexts aimed at transmuting elements and discovering elixirs, blending science with spirituality

Etymology: "Alchemies" is simply the plural of "alchemy," so the story belongs to the singular. The root of the word is Ancient Greek "khuma," meaning an ingot or bar of metal, and the art it names began as the practice of alloying metals. Greek workers used the term "khumeia" for that craft, and the Greek word passed into Arabic as "al-kimiya'," with the Arabic definite article "al-" attached, which is why the English word begins with "al-." From Arabic the term moved into Medieval Latin as "alchemia," and then into Old French as "alkimie" and "arquemie," the latter preserving a trace of the Arabic article. English borrowed it from French. The word's meaning therefore ran from the concrete business of working metal toward the mystical pursuit of transmuting base metals and seeking the philosopher's stone and immortality, a shift that happened long before any modern chemistry existed.