alchemy

American  

[al-kuh-mee] / ˈæl kə mi /

noun

PLURAL

alchemies

1. a form of chemistry and speculative philosophy practiced in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and concerned principally with discovering methods for transmuting baser metals into gold and with finding a universal solvent and an elixir of life.

2. any magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value.

3. any seemingly magical process of transforming or combining elements into something new.

   Through some kind of alchemy he has reinvented himself as a writer.

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alchemy British  

/ ˈælkəmɪ, ælˈkɛmɪk /

noun

1. the pseudoscientific predecessor of chemistry that sought a method of transmuting base metals into gold, an elixir to prolong life indefinitely, a panacea or universal remedy, and an alkahest or universal solvent

2. a power like that of alchemy

   her beauty had a potent alchemy

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alchemy Scientific  

/ ăl′kə-mē /

1. A medieval philosophy and early form of chemistry whose aims were the transmutation of base metals into gold, the discovery of a cure for all diseases, and the preparation of a potion that gives eternal youth. The imagined substance capable of turning other metals into gold was called the philosophers' stone.

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alchemy Cultural  

1. A science (no longer practiced) that sought to transform one chemical element into another through a combination of magic and primitive chemistry. Alchemy is considered to be the ancestor of modern chemistry.

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Closer Look

Because their goals were so unrealistic, and because they had so little success in achieving them, the practitioners of alchemy in the Middle Ages got a reputation as fakers and con artists. But this reputation is not fully deserved. While they never succeeded in turning lead into gold (one of their main goals), they did make discoveries that helped to shape modern chemistry. Alchemists invented early forms of some of the laboratory equipment used today, including beakers, crucibles, filters, and stirring rods. They also discovered and purified a number of chemical elements, including mercury, sulfur, and arsenic. And the methods they developed to separate mixtures and purify compounds by distillation and extraction are still important.

Discover More

The search for the philosopher's stone that would change lead and other base metals into gold was part of alchemy.

Today, alchemy is associated with wizards, magic, and the search for arcane knowledge.

Other Word Forms

• alchemic adjective
• alchemical adjective
• alchemically adverb
• alchemistic adjective
• alchemistical adjective

Etymology

Origin of alchemy

First recorded in 1375–1425; earlier alchimie, from Old French alquemie, from Medieval Latin alchymia, from Arabic al “the” + kīmiyā', from Greek chēmeía, chēmía, chymeía “art of alloying metals; alchemy”; replacing Middle English alconomye, equivalent to alk(imie) + (astr)onomye “astronomy” ( astronomy )

Example Sentences

All three figures deserve credit for the cosmic alchemy and community spirit that made Spaceland and the world it created so game-changing.

From Los Angeles Times

“Chadwick was a mighty, mighty elixir that sort of stirred up that alchemy that we’re all in search of, which is meaning.”

From Los Angeles Times

There is a kind of alchemy when Wales play under the lights at Cardiff City Stadium.

From BBC

He was deeply in this conflict of going: I work incredibly hard at this thing, but what is the other element — that alchemy?

From Los Angeles Times

So I gave in to indulgence and made a béchamel: one of the five mother sauces of classical French cooking, a simple alchemy of butter, flour and milk that turns heat into velvet.

From Salon