Definitions
a pseudoscientific forerunner of chemistry in medieval times
Word origin
From Old French alkimie, arquemie (French alchimie), from Medieval Latin alchēmia, from Arabic اَلْكِيمِيَاء (al-kīmiyāʔ), from Ancient Greek χυμείᾱ (khumeíā, “art of alloying metals”), from χύμα (khúma, “ingot, bar”). Compare Spanish alquimia and Italian alchimia.
Used in a sentence
“The purpose of physical alchemy—as opposed to its various spiritual pursuits—was to treat the supposed leprosity of base metals such as lead, refining and purifying them into gold.”
“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.”
“1640, George Herbert, Jacula Prudentum; or, Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, etc., in The Remains of that Sweet Singer of the Temple George Herbert, London: Pickering, 1841, p. 143, No alchymy to saving.”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“Old metal lore”7 letters
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