chemurgy

American  

[kem-ur-jee, kuh-mur-] / ˈkɛm ɜr dʒi, kəˈmɜr- /

noun

1. a division of applied chemistry concerned with the industrial use of organic substances, especially substances obtained from farm produce, as soybeans or peanuts.

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chemurgy British  

/ ˈkɛmɜːdʒɪ /

noun

1. the branch of chemistry concerned with the industrial use of organic raw materials, esp materials of agricultural origin

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Other Word Forms

• chemurgic adjective
• chemurgical adjective
• chemurgically adverb

Etymology

Origin of chemurgy

First recorded in 1930–35; chem- + -urgy

Example Sentences

That same decade, an upstart movement called farm chemurgy emerged.

From Slate • Jun. 20, 2019

The term chemurgy didn’t last, but the movement presaged the farm policy of coming decades.

From Slate • Jun. 20, 2019

The transformation of agricultural byproducts into industrial resources came to be known as chemurgy, a word coined by an organic chemist with Dow Chemical Co.

From Slate • Feb. 3, 2014

So synthetic rubber became still another battleground on which farm "chemurgy" proponents hurled their imprecations at the oil refiners.

From Time Magazine Archive

The easing of the rubber shortage was itself an ironic triumph for chemurgy.

From Time Magazine Archive