Alchymia

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The medieval practice of transforming base metals into gold through chemical processes
2. the philosophical quest for immortality and the elixir of life
3. a precursor to modern chemistry that combined elements of mysticism and science

Etymology: Alchymia is the Medieval Latin form of what English later spelled "alchemy," and it came into English through Old French "alkimie" and Medieval Latin "alchimia." The word's Arabic ancestry is often traced through "al-kimiya," a term that is generally thought to combine the Arabic definite article "al-" with a word of uncertain origin, possibly from Greek "khumeia," meaning "the art of casting metals" or "fusion." Scholars continue to debate that Greek link, so the exact path remains uncertain. Medieval writers used the term for far more than turning lead into gold. Many practitioners also aimed to find an elixir that could prolong life and a substance that could perfect metals, ideas that linked material change to spiritual purification. Because those goals overlapped with pharmacy, dyeing and metallurgy, the word covered a broad range of laboratory work rather than a single craft.

Synonyms: alchemy