chemy means alchemy, chemistry (prior to their being properly distinguished). Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
chemy is pronounced /ˈkɛmɪ/.
Why “chemy” is a great word
The undifferentiated precursor to both modern chemistry and its speculative ancestor, alchemy, encompassing all early material philosophy and practice. Its lineage traces from the Greek *chēmeía*, likely referring to the art of metalworking, through Arabic *al-kīmiyāʾ* into the post-Classical Latin *chemia*, *chymia*, *chimia*. Unlike 'alchemy,' which narrows the quest to gold and elixirs, or 'chemistry,' which declares a precise science of matter, 'chemy' is the sprawling, ancestral root of both. It is the soot-stained notebook where a recipe for pottery glaze shares a page with a diagram of the celestial macrocosm; the alembic's slow drip, watched with equal hope for a new pigment or the secret of immortality; the single, shadowed chamber where meticulous measurement and profound symbolism were not yet estranged—the silent, pre-scientific womb from which twin disciplines were born.
Etymology
From the post-Classical Latin chemia, chymia, chimia. Doublet of Kimiya.
noun
- alchemy, chemistry (prior to their being properly distinguished)