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Definition of alchemy


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al·che·my  audio  (lk-m) KEY  

NOUN:
  1. A medieval chemical philosophy having as its asserted aims the transmutation of base metals into gold, the discovery of the panacea, and the preparation of the elixir of longevity.
  2. A seemingly magical power or process of transmuting: "He wondered by what alchemy it was changed, so that what sickened him one hour, maddened him with hunger the next" (Marjorie K. Rawlings).

ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English alkamie, from Old French alquemie, from Medieval Latin alchymia, from Arabic al-kmiy' : al-, the + kmiy', chemistry (from Late Greek khmeia, khumeia, perhaps from Greek Khmia, Egypt)

OTHER FORMS:
al·chemi·cal   (l-km-kl) KEY   or al·chemic (Adjective), al·chemi·cal·ly (Adverb)


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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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