Alchemists

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈæl.kə.mɪsts/

Definitions

1. Practitioners who attempt to change ordinary materials into more precious forms while exploring the founding principles of chemistry and magic
2. Individuals involved in the historical pursuit of converting lesser metals into gold and discovering the elixir of life through experimental methods
3. People who practiced early experimental art aiming to transform materials and understand the essence of matter through symbolic and practical methods

Etymology: The word "alchemists" is simply the plural of "alchemist," a term that passed into English from Old French "alquemiste," which in turn came from Medieval Latin "alchemista." The ending "-ist" marks a person who practises something, so an alchemist was literally one who practised alchemy, the older word from which it is built. That older word has a tangled path. Medieval Latin "alchimia" and its relatives passed through Arabic "al-kīmiyāʾ," with the Arabic article "al-" attached to a term that itself seems to have come from Greek "khumeía," a word for the art of casting or fusing metals. The Greek term is usually linked to "khumós," meaning "juice" or "liquid," which hints that early metalworking and mixing were tied to fluids. The Arabic article is a reminder that a large part of the vocabulary of European chemistry arrived via Arabic-speaking scholars working in the medieval Islamic world.

Synonyms: sorcerers, magicians

Antonyms: scientists