alchemy means 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.
alchemy is pronounced /ˈælkəmi/.
Why “alchemy” is a great word
The premodern protoscientific and philosophical pursuit, especially in Europe, Arabia, and China, aiming to transmute base metals into gold, discover a universal elixir, and achieve spiritual purification. Its name, from Medieval Latin alchimia, travels from Arabic al-kīmiyā’, from al- (the) + kīmiyā’ (from Late Greek khēmeía, likely from Khemia, an ancient name for Egypt meaning 'land of black earth'). Unlike chemistry, which denotes the sober, empirical science that followed it, or magic, which implies supernatural ritual, alchemy was a material and metaphysical investigation—laboratory and chapel fused into one. It is the furnace's glow on a midnight manuscript, the cryptic geometry of a verdigris emblem, and the patient watch over an alembic’s slow drip—a testament to the human conviction that to perfect matter is to redeem the soul.
noun
- 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 causing of any sort of mysterious sudden transmutation.e.g.“O, he sits high in all the people’s hearts:
And that which would appear offence in us,
His countenance, like richest alchemy,
Will change to virtue and to worthiness.”
- Any elaborate transformation process or algorithm.
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