alchemy
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
alchemy
- /ˈælkəmi/ US
Where it comes from
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.
noun alchemies
- 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. And yet surely to alchemy this right is due, that it may be compared to the husbandman whereof Æsop makes the fable; that, when he died, told his sons that he had left unto them gold buried underground in his vineyard; and they digged over all the ground, and gold they found none; but by reason of t
- The causing of any sort of mysterious sudden transmutation. 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.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: chemistry, transmutation, connection, magic, chymistry, hermeticism, sorcery, occultism, wizardry, thaumaturgy, magery, arcana, esotericism, necromancy, theurgy, mysticism
Translations
Every language
noun ancient chemistry
| Español | alquimia |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 연금술 yeon'geumsul |
| 日本語 | 錬金術 renkinjutsu, 黄金術 ōgonjutsu, 煉丹術 rentanjutsu |
| 中文 | 煉金術 /炼金术 liànjīnshù |
| हिन्दी | कीमिया kīmiyā, कीमियागरी kīmiyāgrī, रसायन rasāyan |
| Português | alquimia |
| Français | alchimie |
| Deutsch | Alchemie |
| Italiano | alchimia |
| Ελληνικά | αλχημεία alchimeía |
| Română | alchimie |
| Русский | алхи́мия alxímija |
| Tiếng Việt | thuật giả kim |
| العربية | اَلْخِيمِيَاء al-ḵīmiyāʔ, خِيمِيَاء ḵīmiyāʔ |
| עברית | אַלְכִּימְיָה alkimiya |
Talk about this word "alchemy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/alchemy. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. alchemy. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/alchemy "alchemy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/alchemy.Cite this
@misc{alchemy_2026,
title = {alchemy},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/alchemy},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
