Chymist

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A professional involved in the field of chemistry who studies materials and their interactions
2. An individual dedicated to experimenting with chemical substances and their changes in properties
3. A person engaged in the practice or study of chemistry, typically focusing on substances and their transformations

Etymology: The spelling "chymist" is the older form of "chemist," and it carries the word's Greek ancestry more visibly. Its root goes back to the Greek "khumeia," the art of alloying metals, a term that appears to have been built from "khuma," meaning fluid, which itself comes from "kheein," to pour. The Arabic "al-kimiya" absorbed that Greek word, and medieval Latin turned it into "alchemia," so the practice that later became chemistry began life as the craft of pouring and mixing metals. The person who practised it passed through French. English first recorded the word in 1562, borrowed from the French "chimiste," which had come from a Medieval Latin form "chimista," itself built from "alchimista," meaning alchemist. The hard "k" sound in English reflects the Greek and Latin spelling rather than French pronunciation, which is why the word sounds different from its French source.

Synonyms: chemist, alchemist